Looking Down the Barrel of Destiny
by Neo Endymnion
Summary: My own anime-type character meets the X-men


Looking Down the Barrel of Destiny  
  
Friday.  
  
  
  
Most children were anxiously awaiting the end of a long school day and the start of a weekend. A lot of other children were planning parties, or some other get together for the coming weekend, some dreaming of dates with boyfriends or girlfriends, a few simply wanting to go home and jump in the pool or just get out of school for the day. Though for one young girl, all that was far from the case.  
  
  
  
She quietly lay on her stomach in a dusty room on the seventh floor of an abandoned factory, directly across from a newly constructed sports arena. Her jet black jumpsuit was covered with dust and grime from her long waiting game, and every inch of her five foot seven inch frame ached from the long wait without moving. She mentally blocked out the stiffness and pain, waiting was part of her job. Her name was Kumiko Kuromori, she was a sharpshooter.  
  
  
  
The black haired girl hated the word sniper, and usually rolled her beautiful green eyes at the term whenever it applied to her. She didn't kill people, but she could hit anything she aimed at, and had been able to since she was young. From the time she was about seven or eight, Kumiko had noticed this unique ability in anything she did, from tossing a football with her sister, to playing mini golf with her family, even skipping rocks in the local river near her parents summer house. Anything she wanted to hit, any target, she could hit with perfection, and this thought made her happy.  
  
Little did she know that unique ability would one day destroy her quiet, happy life.  
  
* * * * *  
  
It was her tenth birthday, and she was upstairs in her room while her parents finished the party decorations downstairs.  
  
She had just finished changing into a brand new two piece dress of forest green, not wanting to stay in her school uniform for the pictures she knew were soon to come, and she stood brushing her long black hair in front of her large floor length mirror.  
  
  
  
Being Japanese by birth, Kumiko was happy to have an American party, thanks to Cynthia, a foreign exchange student who lived with her, and had been teaching her English while her own sister was in America with Cynthia's family.  
  
  
  
Placing her brush on her dresser and sitting in her favorite chair, Kumiko gazed out her window as birds sang in the trees outside, thoughts of growing older put a wondering smile on her face.  
  
  
  
I wonder what fate has in store for my future...  
  
  
  
Her thoughts were shattered in a hail of gunfire that erupted from downstairs.  
  
  
  
Kumiko fought off the urge to run downstairs and see what was happening, knowing her Father was quite the fighter for a man his age, and her Mother wasn't stupid either. Besides, I know they would just tell me to go upstairs and hide anyway... right?  
  
  
  
Diving into her cramped closet, she jumped as her bedroom door crashed down. She heard at least two men going through her room, trashing the place as they went, looking for something. Her English wasn't perfect, but at least she understood the two men as she heard them talking.  
  
  
  
"The kid's not here." the first man said, his deep voice rumbling like something large and evil she could only imagine.  
  
  
  
"Check the closet," the second voice replied "I'll look under the bed."  
  
Footsteps grew louder and then her closet door tore free of it's hinges, gunfire filling the closet.  
  
  
  
"Nope, she's not here either." he rumbled, turning and watching the second, smaller man destroy the bed with a large knife.  
  
  
  
The second man cursed, and put his knife away.  
  
  
  
"The boss isn't gonna like this."  
  
  
  
"You tell him then." the first man replied, his deep voice replied with a chuckle. "Besides, if she is in here, she'll be so much firewood in a few minutes."  
  
  
  
"Yeah, let's get outta here."  
  
  
  
After the sound of their heavy footfalls had died off completely, Kumiko slid out from inside her trunk, silently uttering a prayer of thanks for it being empty. She crawled to the doorway, and seeing she was alone, she silently jogged downstairs.  
  
  
  
Halfway down, on the landing, she found Cynthia, slumped against the wall in a sitting position, badly beaten, but alive.  
  
  
  
"Cynthia!" she knelt next to her best friend as she opened her eyes.  
  
  
  
"Ku...Kumiko." her breath was shallow, and came in short gasps "You... must escape."  
  
  
  
"I can not leave you, you are hurt."  
  
  
  
"No..." Cynthia replied. "Those men... were... looking for you. They want.. your power."  
  
  
  
My gift.  
  
  
  
"You can't... let them have it."  
  
  
  
"But..."  
  
  
  
"Go." Cynthia's warm look slowly faded.  
  
  
  
Kumiko couldn't move... realizing her Mother and Father were probably dead as well, she was truly alone, and scared.  
  
  
  
Soon, the Earth rumbled, and she crawled down the stairs, motivated by pure fear. Kumiko glanced carefully out a front window to see a monster of steel crawling up on it's belly.  
  
  
  
"A tank." she whispered, knowing she had little time left.  
  
  
  
"Sir!" she heard a voice say from nearby after the tank's mighty engine silenced.  
  
  
  
"What is it soldier?" the deep voice rumbled again.  
  
  
  
"The Napalm Cannon is in place, but it needs a few minutes to charge."  
  
  
  
"OK, give the order for our guys to fall back." he rumbled on. "They wouldn't wanna turn out extra crispy, I bet."  
  
  
  
"Sir, yes Sir!"  
  
  
  
Kumiko wasted little time, not knowing what 'Napalm' was and not wanting to find out. She scrambled into the kitchen, grabbing her backpack from where she had left it after school that day. She left her Laptop computer in it, but took everything else except her favorite sweater, filling it with as much canned food as she could find. On a whim, she grabbed a can opener as well, feeling stupid for not thinking of it. Then, she crawled over to her Father and Mother, who almost looked asleep as they lay side by side where they fell.  
  
  
  
Taking her Father's wallet, she emptied all the money and credit cards into the outer pocket of her backpack, then from her Mother, she took a locket she had given her for their recent anniversary. It had a picture of her whole family in one side, and the other side was engraved 'Forever Together'.  
  
  
  
Biting her lip and fighting back tears, she placed the locket around her neck and started for the back door, dragging the heavy backpack with her.  
  
From outside, she heard the tank start moving again and decided this was her last chance. Strapping on her backpack, she dashed out the ruins of her back door and never looked back, even hearing the massive cannon roar as the steel monster destroyed any traces of her family with it's fiery breath.  
  
On and on she ran, stumbling and tripping up a nearby hill, until finally, she could run no more, dropping to her knees in exhaustion at the top of the hill.  
  
  
  
Sitting now, she desperately tried to calm down and think, but her tired limbs and flowing tears made that a difficult task. Shrugging off the backpack, she failed to notice how the brambles, thorns, and stray branches had scratched and clawed at her, tearing her beautiful green dress in numerous places and scratching her arms, legs and face, and tangling her hair. To anyone who would have seen her, she looked like a forgotten child of the forest, dressed in thin rags of green and covered in dirt and small cuts. All she could see was fire greedily consuming her house, and she knew her old life was over, She used her last strength to crawl into a thicket and collapse.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Three miles she had run, with easily ninety pounds of canned food and things in her backpack. She ate cold corn from a can and thought of what to do next.  
  
  
  
Her first thought was to return to the house and see if she could salvage anything, and then take the road into town to get help.  
  
  
  
No, they may have left people there in case I come back.  
  
  
  
She finally decided to stay in the forest for a few days, and she donned the heavy pack again and headed for the river near her home, the going slow because her shoes went up in the fire.  
  
  
  
After a few hours, she found the river, and stashed her pack in a large hollow tree, limping toward the water and jumping in without much thought.  
  
  
  
As she swam, she shed her ruined clothes and hung them on a rock to dry, hoping she could repair them to at least make them decent.  
  
  
  
If I met someone wearing that right now, they would surely think I was raving mad, or worse. she shuddered at the dark thoughts that filled her mind and dunked her head in the cool, clear water to wash her face, hoping her mind would clean up too...  
  
  
  
And silently wondering if tears shed underwater hurt less then normal ones.  
  
Finally, stretching, she grabbed her still damp rags and put them on again, wishing for something better to cover herself with. Remembering her large sweater, she hobbled on her sore feet back toward the tree to recover it.  
  
  
  
Reaching inside the tree and grabbing her backpack, she was alerted to a strange sound behind her.  
  
  
  
Standing and turning, she saw a woman dressed in black Ninja gear, unmasked.  
  
  
  
"Who are you?" Kumiko asked softly, pulling the sweater free and covering herself with it.  
  
  
  
"Hiromi" the Ninja replied. "I come in peace."  
  
  
  
"You are Ninja?" Kumiko was confused.  
  
  
  
"Yes."  
  
  
  
"But I thought Ninja were..."  
  
  
  
"Myth? Legend?" Hiromi smiled and drew off her own baggy overshirt,  
  
leaving a thinner black shirt under that, placing it softly around Kumiko's delicate shoulders and hugging her for warmth.  
  
  
  
"All myths and legends has some basis in reality." she replied with infinite wisdom  
  
  
  
Kumiko simply hugged this strange woman, her basic need for companionship taking over as she did so, wondering what to do next.  
  
  
  
"If you like, you can stay with me, and I can teach you the secret arts."  
  
  
  
"Ninjitsu? Me?" the girl shivered.  
  
  
  
"Yes, if you like, but I shall not force you."  
  
  
  
"I would like that... I have nothing left anyway."  
  
  
  
"There you are wrong, child." Hiromi replied, leading Kumiko off deeper into the woods towards her small house a few miles away.  
  
  
  
"What do I have then?" Kumiko asked, as she stumbled and Hiromi stooped to carry her.  
  
  
  
"You have three things that are your best weapons... your mind, your body and your heart. When they all work in unison, you can be truly powerful, even powerful enough to avenge your family, if that is the path you choose."  
  
  
  
"You know about what happened to me?" Kumiko said, feeling tears start to flow again as the visions of her family filled her mind once more.  
  
  
  
"Yes, I know, as will you in time." Hiromi smiled. "I have been following you for a while now, watching over you as I do all people in this forest."  
  
  
  
"It must be lonely protecting this forest."  
  
  
  
Hiromi's laugh was melodic, and she smiled.  
  
  
  
"I have the forest creatures and Mother Nature for my friends, I am happy with my path in life, and I have no regrets."  
  
They traveled in silence for a time, finally Kumiko breaking the silence with a question.  
  
  
  
"Is it considered a weakness to feel pain?"  
  
Hiromi thought for a minute, ducking under a large fallen tree near the edge of her home, finally shaking her head.  
  
  
  
"No, I think it is a strength... it keeps you going in the right direction when you are most lost."  
  
Kumiko cried then, hoping these would be her last tears for a long time to come.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Over the next six years, Hiromi had taught Kumiko many things, including the secrets of how to fully utilize her power, which was actually a form of Photographic Memory. Once Kumiko saw what she wanted to hit, she would memorize where it was and could hit it from anywhere, and that was the secret of her power.  
  
  
  
Once she learned to memorize what she saw, she began to memorize and learn the art of Ninjitsu. Kumiko had mastered many other skills as well, such as Marksmanship with numerous weapons.  
  
  
  
After six long years of training, Hiromi had given Kumiko a new life, and the weapons she needed to gain revenge if she so desired.  
  
Using her father's money, and taking a long plane trip to America, she had taken various jobs to settle herself into living American style, and into finding her Family's killers.  
  
  
  
Now, a year in America had found her the perfect job, even though it was far from legal, didn't worry her. Her skills were excellent, and she made sure no one ever got hurt, and she was never caught... and the money was good.  
  
  
  
That job found her in this dusty room, awaiting the arrival of a rich and powerful man from the local baseball game.  
  
  
  
Looks like we have a lot in common Kumiko thought as his personal van pulled up to take him home.  
  
  
  
Kumiko uncovered her rifle scope, closing one green eye to peer though it and ready her shot.  
  
  
  
Soon, her target, a man in a wheelchair was rolling out of the ball game, being pushed by a tall man with red sunglasses. He had a beautiful woman on either side of him, one with red hair, the other brown, with a white streak up the middle.  
  
  
  
Tensing, she selected her target carefully, her orders very specific, and she fired.  
  
  
  
The bullet tore through the air, barely nicking the tall man's ear and knocking off his red sunglasses...  
  
  
  
Instantly, the group of people all fell to the ground except the second girl, and seemed immune to the sudden red beams that shot from his eyes as she placed her gloved hands over his eyes.  
  
  
  
Her speed is incredible, and she seems very strong Kumiko thought as she quickly packed her rifle in a case and ducked out of site, running for the rooftop. If I didn't know better, I would say she was made of stone, or maybe steel.  
  
  
  
Reaching the rooftop, she found herself on the defensive as a small man dove and tackled her from a dark corner behind a massive cooling unit.  
  
  
  
"A lady sniper." his voice was rough, as if raw, but very clear at the same time. "And nothing more than a little girl."  
  
  
  
"Not a sniper, a sharpshooter." Kumiko corrected angrily, kicking him off as she rolled to her feet and drew a Katana from her back.  
  
  
  
The smaller man rolled and got his own footing in a similar manner as she had, and she knew he was trained in a similar fighting technique.  
  
  
  
Staring each other down, the wind carried a familiar sound, and Kumiko smiled, putting her sword away.  
  
  
  
"I bid you farewell, fellow warrior." she said, bowing and leaping to grab the extended ladder of a Helicopter as it flew overhead.  
  
  
  
As she watched below, the man smiled, and nodded his own head in a small bow.  
  
  
  
"Next time." he replied as two other men joined the first one on the rooftop, one in a trenchcoat, his red eyes flashing as he twirled a large staff, the other one carrying a large pistol, his arm metallic.  
  
  
  
Climbing up into the chopper, the pilot handed her a headset so they could speak over the roar of the engine.  
  
  
  
She put it on and started putting her gear away for the long flight home.  
  
  
  
"Nice shot." the pilot said, pointing to a small television in the cockpit, that showed her shot hitting from numerous press cameras around the event.  
  
"Who'd have known those two were Mutants."  
  
  
  
"Apparently our boss." she replied quietly. "That was the plan I imagine, exposing the Mutants to the public... why I can not see, I simply follow orders."  
  
  
  
"Yeah." the pilot replied, "We all just do our jobs."  
  
  
  
They flew the rest of the way home in silence, Kumiko soon falling asleep to the muted sound of the chopper blades from all the waiting she had done.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Kumiko awoke to the soft jolt of the helicopter landing on it's assigned pad, the familiar sights of her new home brought a smile to her face as she took off the headset.  
  
  
  
"Our young one has returned to the nest." her boss said as he stepped out of his car and walked toward the chopper.  
  
  
  
He was tall, but not too tall, in fact. His brown hair and brown eyes made him seem boring and average in his brown suit and black shoes. It was actually only when he spoke that his intelligence was apparent.  
  
  
  
Stepping out of the helicopter, Kumiko bowed and stood at attention, as if ready for her next orders, as she was trained to do.  
  
  
  
"Now now, none of that." he replied, smiling and placing a hand on her shoulder, making her feel like she was part of his family, which was how he saw his whole operation, a family.  
  
  
  
"You need a rest." he said, as if to himself. "Take a couple of days off."  
  
  
  
She bowed again, and was led to a second waiting car.  
  
  
  
The airstrip was nearly five miles from the main house. The entire area was almost twenty miles square, consisting of the main house, the airstrip, a private lake and surrounding forest and hillside, and a laboratory to the south. The main house was huge in itself, easily a mile long and four stories tall, and it also had two underground basement levels, one even she couldn't get into. Only three people had higher clearance then she did... her boss, who's name no one knew, everyone simply called him 'Father', except Kumiko, she called him 'Boss', for obvious reasons. His second in command, his son, Victor and Victor's wife Monica had clearance as well, but no one really paid attention too her, since Victor himself was always seen with her for important events.  
  
  
  
Nearly everyone there didn't care for the younger Kumiko, but she didn't mind, she had a roof over her head, money in her pocket, and she was respected, and that was enough. Most of them came from broken homes, a few had run away from home, or even like Kumiko, had lost their parents in other ways.  
  
  
  
She was the youngest, and that was probably why most of them didn't like her, after all, she had been there less time than most and already was favorite of the leaders. Also, besides Monica, Kumiko was the only girl around, and that too was something the other boys didn't care for. For any seventeen year old girl, she could match any of them in any challenge, and she imagined that scared them more than anything.  
  
  
  
As she sat in the back of the car, her mind raced to understand why her orders had been so specific.  
  
  
  
Why would the Boss want a popular Mutant lover like Professor Charles Xavier targeted, and why in such a way... she pondered, the car bounding up the long dirt road with more bounce than she would have liked It seems such a waste, he has not hurt anyone, and he seems like he is helping Mutants... why hurt him?  
  
  
  
"Miss?" the driver said quietly, glancing in the rearview mirror nervously.  
  
  
  
"Yes?" she replied, curious. Usually no one talked to her at all, except the chopper pilot. Even Victor was pretty quiet behind his silver eye patch when he relayed his orders.  
  
  
  
"I was just wondering what you thought of Mutants." he asked, fear apparent in his voice. "I mean after the hit on Professor Xavier, I was curious how you felt about it."  
  
  
  
"Because everyone says I am a Mutant, correct?" she replied, smiling.  
  
  
  
"Um... yeah... no offense."  
  
  
  
"None taken." she replied, her smile fading for a look of confusion. "Yes, for the record I am what you would call a 'Mutant', though I prefer to call it having a gift... and as for what I think about Xavier, he seems very nice... but at least he is safe, and no one was hurt."  
  
  
  
Though why I was ordered to do what I did is something I still don't understand. her thoughts finished.  
  
  
  
"I guess." he replied softly.  
  
  
  
"Two things you must know." she said, her voice soft and gentle, yet her tone firm.  
  
  
  
"Yeah?" he said, his eyes growing wide.  
  
  
  
"First of all, My name is Kumiko."  
  
  
  
"Yeah, Kumiko, got it... my name's Steve... Steve McConnell"  
  
  
  
"OK." she continued "Steve, this part is important."  
  
  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
  
  
"Relax!" she giggled. "I hate it when people are scared of me, I am quite harmless."  
  
  
  
Steve sighed and chuckled, and Kumiko leaned back, sleep sneaking up to claim her once again.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Rogue floated silently out of Xavier's Study, closing the door and sighing heavily. Being gifted with the power of flight didn't make her heart feel any lighter most of the time.  
  
  
  
She was dressed in tight blue jeans, a red T-shirt, which was almost as tight, and a pair of black bicycle gloves. Rogue never went anywhere outside of her own room without wearing some kind of gloves, her mutant powers doomed her to do so. With nothing more than a touch, she could steal other Mutant's powers and memories, and if held too long, the effect would be permanent. Rogue ran her gloved fingers through her hair as she floated down the corridor.  
  
  
  
Been a long time since ah've seen him so down... she thought sullenly.  
  
  
  
Yes it has. a familiar voice floated gently through her mind.  
  
  
  
Jean Grey walked around a corner, her form-fitting costume was slightly wrinkled from wearing it under her normal clothes earlier at the game. Her long red hair had lost most of it's bounce, but still framed her face perfectly as she yawned from a long afternoon of taking care of her husband, Scott Summers, or as he was known, Cyclops, Leader of the X- men's Blue Team.  
  
  
  
"How's Scott?" Rogue asked, yawning herself from helping Xavier, founder of the X-men, normally Jean's job, while she looked after Scott.  
  
  
  
"He's finally asleep, the medication is helping, but he's still in pain." Jean sighed "If that shot had been a millimeter off..."  
  
  
  
"Don't you even think it girl." Rogue said, hugging Jean quietly. "Your Scott's a tough one, he'll be fine."  
  
  
  
"Yeah, he'll be back to trying to do everything himself again before we know it."  
  
  
  
Both women laughed and began to walk toward their rooms for some much needed sleep.  
  
  
  
As they left, the faint smell of cigar smoke told them they had a guardian angel of sorts watching over them, and they smiled and went their separate ways.  
  
  
  
Just outside, Remy LeBeau, known as Gambit, sat on the front porch to the 'School For Gifted Youngsters', the X-men's home base, and shuffled a deck of cards. His mutant power of charging cards with Kinetic energy and tossing them like knives or bombs was a useful tool at times, his use of the Bo Staff he carried was useful as well. As he sat, his brown Trenchcoat billowed slightly in the wind, and his red eyes stared off into the depths of his own thoughts.  
  
  
  
"What's a'matter Cajun." Wolverine's voice echoed from behind him "You finally usin' that tiny brain of yours?"  
  
  
  
Gambit's silence was unusual.  
  
  
  
Logan gave up and sat beside his teammate, his own thoughts bugging him to an unusual profound silence as well. His gift of Adamantium laced claws, bones and a Healing Factor wasn't much use when it came to solving problems of the heart, though his pain would heal physically, some scars were harder to deal with.  
  
* * * * *  
  
That night, in an unmarked bedroom on the women's side of Xavier's Mansion, A young girl awoke, covered in sweat, a strange dream still lingering in her mind as she sat up and caught her breath.  
  
  
  
This is the third time this week I've had this dream... but why? Jubilee frowned. I need to talk to someone, but everyone's still shook up over the attempt on Xavier's life.  
  
  
  
Come to my study Jubilee, I always have time for one of my students.  
  
Xavier's voice replied mentally.  
  
  
  
Quickly tossing on her favorite yellow trenchcoat over her thin purple nightshirt, she stepped into her slippers and trudged to Xavier's office.  
  
  
  
Jubilee shivered from the dampness of her clothes as they clung to her slender figure as she walked out of her warm room and into the chilly hallway leading toward Xavier's study.  
  
  
  
Here I am, sneaking out after curfew and going to see an older man. she giggled inwardly at the joke, though the chill and silence soon returned a frown to her young face.  
  
  
  
She was quite beautiful for her age, only fifteen, her blue eyes showed slight signs of her Asian heritage. Her straight shoulder length black hair was still wet from sweat, and shined in the moonlight that filtered through the windows as she made her way down the hall.  
  
  
  
As she slowly walked to his office, she shivered, partly from the cold, and partly from the thoughts roaming around her head.  
  
  
  
Finally, she got to the door and it opened on it's own.  
  
  
  
"Xavier?" she whispered, brushing the stray bangs from her face.  
  
  
  
"By the fire Jubilation." his soft voice replied, sounding very tired.  
  
  
  
Shuffling toward the nice warm fire, she curled up into a chair and stared at the floor, again the bangs falling over her face as if to mock her.  
  
  
  
"This dream, it confuses you, and you're looking to explain it."  
  
  
  
Jubilee smiled, brushing the bangs from her face again with practiced ease.  
  
  
  
She always loved talking with Xavier, even if he did call her my her true name.  
  
  
  
"Yeah... In this dream, I keep seeing, like... some girl. She's about my age, but she's... I dunno... lost."  
  
  
  
"Lost?" Xavier replied, looking into her mind as she explained.  
  
  
  
"Yeah, Lost... you know...like, she can't figure out if she should listen to her heart or her head... like, she's lost her way in life and she can't decide Good from Evil." Jubilee searched for words. "You know... like, she's alone and needs major help... but she hasn't figured that out yet... or something."  
  
  
  
His chuckle brought a frown to Jubilee's face as she shivered again.  
  
  
  
"Your words are scattered like your thoughts are, but your mind and your heart show me what you want to tell me."  
  
  
  
"Um... so that's good, right?"  
  
  
  
Xavier's hover chair floated soundlessly across the room to a closet as he spoke.  
  
  
  
"I understand what you're trying to say." he grabbed a thick blanket from the closet. "And if you've had this dream a few times, it probably means you're seeing the future."  
  
  
  
"The future?" Jubilee replied as Xavier leaned over and placed the blanket over her shoulders.  
  
  
  
"Hard to believe?" he asked.  
  
  
  
"Yeah, a little, I guess." she replied, snuggling into the blanket.  
  
  
  
"Everyone has a psychic powers, it's just most people don't use them, or even try to."  
  
  
  
"Jean says that all the time, and she's been trying to teach me to percept... or something."  
  
  
  
"Teaching you perception." Xavier corrected.  
  
  
  
"Yeah, what you said."  
  
  
  
"Perception means you see things that most other people wouldn't notice... for example, you've been staring at the floor or at the fire since you got here, but I bet you know what color my eyes are."  
  
  
  
"Brown." Jubilee replied without hesitation, and as soon as she did, she gasped.  
  
  
  
"How'd I do that?"  
  
  
  
He simply smiled.  
  
  
  
"That's the power of perception."  
  
  
  
"So you think this 'percolation'..."  
  
  
  
"Perception." Xavier corrected again.  
  
  
  
"Yeah, that... you think that's what's making me dream this stuff?"  
  
  
  
Xavier sighed. "Most likely, since the girl I see in your thoughts is about your age, and is similar to you in background, I imagine you two are a lot alike."  
  
"So you think that's why I connected with her?" Jubilee replied eagerly.  
  
  
  
"It's just a guess, but yes."  
  
  
  
"That explains it, I have to find this girl and help her." She said, nodding and finding herself brushing her bangs away again.  
  
  
  
"Well then you should get some sleep, we leave in the morning."  
  
  
  
"Um... we?"  
  
  
  
"With Cyclops hurt, and Wolverine gone to who knows where, we'll need your help when we go find this girl." Xavier said.  
  
  
  
"I get a real mission?" Jubilee jumped up so quickly she almost dropped the blanket into the fire.  
  
  
  
Laughing, he replied quietly.  
  
  
  
"Yes, though it may not be the huge adventure you think it may be, but it's a good one to get your feet wet."  
  
  
  
"Whoo hoo!" Jubilee hugged Xavier and tossed the blanket across the chair.  
  
  
  
"Save your strength." he said solemnly "You'll need it."  
  
  
  
Jubilee put her hands on her slim hips and frowned, blowing upward to try to move the hair over her eyes, staring at Xavier with mock annoyance.  
  
  
  
"You're the one who's always calling me a kid, and Wolvy's always sayin' I got energy to spare, so don't you worry about me, I'll be fine."  
  
As she stomped off, pretending to be mad, Xavier didn't even turn his hover chair as he spoke again.  
  
  
  
"You should know, the person we're going to find is the one who shot at me."  
  
  
  
Her stomp instantly became petal soft footsteps, and she turned around and looked at him with another frown forming across her normally vibrant face.  
  
  
  
"Why do I think the bricks are dropping and I'm standing on the bullseye..."  
  
  
  
"Because the girl you're dreaming about is the one who fired the shot that injured Scott."  
  
  
  
Jubilee simply leaned back against the wall and slumped to a sitting position, no longer caring about what she was wearing, about the chill in the air, or even the fact that she may have trouble sleeping... all of that went out the window as she realized what it truly meant to be one of the X-men.  
  
  
  
"Relax Jubilee." Xavier said as she quickly snapped out of her daze and pulled her thin nightshirt back down to her knees before he turned around, which of course he didn't. "She meant to miss me, and I think she wasn't meaning to hit Scott as bad as she did."  
  
  
  
Standing carefully, now worried more about her appearance, she rubbed her lower back from her little fall and turned to return to her room.  
  
  
  
"Remember, we leave early, so get whatever rest you can... I know sleep will be difficult, but you'll get used to it."  
  
  
  
"Thanks again." she replied sadly, the bangs over her eyes long forgotten as she shuffled toward her room once more, silently scolding herself for her choice of overnight wardrobe.  
  
  
  
Xavier chuckled after she left.  
  
  
  
The wonders of youth.  
  
  
  
Do I detect a hint of sarcasm in that thought? Jean's face stuck her tongue out in his mind.  
  
  
  
You were young once Jean, you understand better than I do what she's going through.  
  
  
  
I also understand you better than you think.  
  
  
  
Goodnight Jean. he replied as he mentally shielded his mind for some  
  
restless sleep of his own, smiling as it found him.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Kumiko opened her eyes, stretching leisurely.  
  
  
  
She slowly awoke to find herself in her own soft bed, dressed as she would dress herself normally before she went to sleep, white silk pajama pants with pink flowers on them, the matching top draped over a chair next to the bed. She was covered only in a thin sheet as she stretched again, she wondered how she got here.  
  
  
  
Monica must have brought me from the car...  
  
  
  
Sitting up quickly, she threw on and buttoned her top, wondering if Monica was responsible for her being there. There was only two things she hated about living here. Being the youngest, she rarely spoke to anyone, the others not wanting to be friends with 'The little girl.' Not really a problem, but she did wish for a friend or two sometimes.  
  
  
  
The other thing was simply dealing with constantly being harassed or teased by some of the younger boys, and that too wasn't a big deal, but being the only girl in a place full of over a hundred or so guys ranging in age from eighteen to twenty-four, she always locked her door at night and slept with a knife under her pillow... just in case.  
  
  
  
As she silently stalked her room this morning, seriously trying to remember if anyone else had been in here while she slept, she noticed the door was unlocked, and she retrieved the knife from her pillow.  
  
  
  
Someone else had to have brought me here... Monica always locks the door, she understands me.  
  
  
  
A knock on that very same door caused her to tense, ready to throw the knife if the need arose.  
  
  
  
"Kumiko?" Monica's voice softly called from outside.  
  
  
  
"Come in Monica." she replied, quickly replacing the knife under her pillow and sitting on the bed, catching her breath.  
  
  
  
"Oh, did I startle you?" Monica said, shutting and locking the door.  
  
Her gorgeous blue mini skirt and summer top was a blinding contrast to the stark white room, but it suited her figure well. She seemed older than she was, but she was only twenty-three, the same age as her sister... wherever she was now.  
  
  
  
"A little." Kumiko smiled shyly, kicking her feet off the side of the bed as Monica sat down next to her.  
  
  
  
"Sorry." she apologized "I went to check on something and forgot to lock the door."  
  
  
  
"I understand." knowing at times her English, though very good, was still not perfect, and finding words in situations like this was sometimes troublesome.  
  
  
  
"So, feeling better after a nice sleep?" Monica said, changing the subject tactfully.  
  
  
  
"Yes, thank you. I was very comfortable."  
  
  
  
Smiling at her for a moment, Monica grabbed a bag she had carried in, she looked around in it.  
  
  
  
"I have something for you."  
  
  
  
"Really?" Kumiko's curiosity was perked.  
  
  
  
Monica dove through this bag for what seemed like an eternity, finally speaking, but not turning around.  
  
  
  
"I'm really sorry about this, I'll miss you around here."  
  
  
  
Kumiko's hand slowly reached for the knife as Monica aimed the gun at her.  
  
  
  
"Don't try for the knife, please, I don't want to do this, but I will if I have to."  
  
  
  
"Why Monica?"  
  
  
  
"No witnesses, no trace to us." Monica replied softly, obviously not wanting to shoot the girl, but clearly believing she had no other choice.  
  
  
  
"There has to be another way, I can disappear, leave... no one would know where I went."  
  
  
  
"No, the place has cameras everywhere, you'd never make it."  
  
  
  
Kumiko's mind raced frantically, desperately searching for a plan.  
  
  
  
"OK, then if I have to die, I at least deserve a last request."  
  
  
  
"Fair enough." Monica agreed. "What is it?"  
  
  
  
"I want the Boss to kill me himself, honor deserves as much."  
  
The woman stood, still aiming the gun on Kumiko, but pulling a cellular phone out of her pocket and dialed it carefully, wary of the younger girl.  
  
  
  
"Yes, This is Monica, get 'Father' on the line..." she paused, her eyes never leaving the girl "I don't care, get him here now... I'm in Kumiko's room."  
  
  
  
She folded the phone and dropped it onto the bed, walking backward and sitting on the dresser.  
  
  
  
"You know I don't want to do this." Monica said suddenly, after a long pause.  
  
  
  
"Then don't, put the gun down and let me escape." Kumiko replied quietly, hiding the fear in her voice with practiced control.  
  
  
  
"That would be suicide."  
  
  
  
"At least you wouldn't have to blame yourself for killing me."  
  
Monica's eyes filled with tears, but she simply sat where she was, clearly something more dangerous was forcing her hand.  
  
  
  
"What is it?" Kumiko asked, walking over and sitting by her friend, putting an arm around her shoulder even as the woman's gun jabbed at her ribs.  
  
  
  
"I was about your age." Monica began softly, the tears flowing like a river. "I was playing with a ball in my backyard."  
  
  
  
She sniffled and Kumiko wiped her tears away as she continued.  
  
  
  
"I was bouncing it against the wall of the garage, even after I was told not to a few times before. When it bounced in the open window and..."  
  
  
  
"It's OK" Kumiko replied. "You can tell me."  
  
  
  
"My father was scientist, working with new and experimental chemicals, and the garage was his lab..." She sniffled again. "Well, the ball bounced in the lab, and I heard glass breaking, so I ran off..."  
  
  
  
"Your parents..."  
  
  
  
"...died a few minutes later in the explosion... I was saved because I fell into the pool when the place blew up."  
  
  
  
Monica's tears flowed on, and she closed her eyes to shut out the images that haunted her still.  
  
  
  
"I was found by 'Father', and from that day on, I vowed to always do what I was told, no matter what. But now..."  
  
  
  
Kumiko wiped her friends tears away, the gun forgotten.  
  
  
  
"It's not too late to get out of all this."  
  
  
  
"Yes, it is for me... if I leave, my sister will die..."  
  
  
  
"You have a sister?"  
  
  
  
"Yes, somewhere. I always thought she died in the blast, but I was told she's being held by 'Father' somewhere nearby.  
  
  
  
Just then, the door burst open, and two heavily armed guards appeared.  
  
  
  
"Monica?" one of them asked, and Kumiko knew the voice.  
  
  
  
"You!" she exclaimed, leaping to her feet as the both guards aimed machine guns at her.  
  
  
  
The larger guard cocked an eyebrow, then slowly smiled as he realized who he was looking at.  
  
  
  
"Well well well." he chuckled. "If it isn't the little girl from long ago... how's your parents?"  
  
  
  
Cursing in her native Japanese, she stood her ground.  
  
  
  
"Go ahead, try it." he replied. "and I'll send you to meet them."  
  
  
  
Kumiko forced herself to calm down as 'Father', her Boss arrived, walking in like a real father would on a brother sister fight, calm and confident.  
  
  
  
"Monica, you wanted to see me?" he said, his tone smooth.  
  
  
  
"She... has a last request." she sniffled one final time, wiping tears off her face.  
  
  
  
"Oh?" 'Father' replied. "What would that be?"  
  
  
  
"You kill me." Kumiko said, her voice held no trace of emotion.  
  
  
  
"Hmmm, the Ninja honor, fair enough." he said, taking the gun from Monica and aiming it at her with dreaded ease.  
  
  
  
"You'll be hard to replace." he said, smiling.  
  
He fired, and as Kumiko waited for the bullet to tear through her, she was  
  
knocked backward by Monica's body, and the two rolled to a corner.  
  
  
  
She lay still, a plan forming in her mind, and she forced her heartbeat and breathing to slow to undetectable levels.  
  
  
  
As she concentrated, she felt herself being kicked once, twice... three times in her side, but she somehow forced herself to remain limp, mentally blocking the pain and remained focused on her breathing.  
  
  
  
Finally, she felt a cold touch on her neck, and she started counting.  
  
  
  
One, two, three...  
  
  
  
When she reached one hundred, she slowly raised her breathing and heart rate, the pain of those kicks slowly growing in her side, before she finally  
  
opened her eyes.  
  
  
  
She was laying on her back at the foot of her bed, Monica lay atop her, both of them covered in Monica's warm blood.  
  
  
  
"Monica?" she whispered, rolling her limp friend off her legs and kneeling to cradle her head in her arms.  
  
  
  
"Kumiko." she replied, ever so softly. "I... want you to find my sister."  
  
  
  
"Monica..."  
  
  
  
"Promise me... you'll find her... tell her... I loved her..." her voice dropped to a hoarse whisper.  
  
  
  
Kumiko's own tears flowed now.  
  
  
  
"I promise."  
  
  
  
Monica smiled, and breathed her last, leaving Kumiko alone once more.  
  
Dragging her up and onto the bed, Kumiko covered Monica in the sheets and made a silent vow.  
  
  
  
I vow, that your death will be avenged... I will find your sister, wherever she may be, and I will take care of her as if she were my own flesh and blood. I will protect her in the same way you protected me... with my life.  
  
  
  
Grabbing the knife from the pillowcase, she used it to rip her pajama sleeves off and using them in turn to bind her bruised ribs. Finally she set out, covered in her friend's blood, to claim the revenge she dreamed of for so long.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Kumiko crouched silently, listening at the door to the room.  
  
  
  
As she knelt and leaned against the door, she heard the two guards talking, and shuddered as they talked about what the two men wished they could have done to Monica and herself.  
  
  
  
Placing the knife gingerly in her teeth, she opened the door and hung on the back side of it, so it swung open and she was out of sight.  
  
  
  
"Hey!"  
  
  
  
"What the..."  
  
  
  
They turned, leaping into the room, looking here and there for the cause of their sudden lapse of boredom.  
  
  
  
The cause, Kumiko, had long since crawled over the door, behind the guards and disappeared down the hallway toward her goal...  
  
  
  
Revenge.  
  
  
  
Crossing the empty intersecting hallway, Kumiko ran down the nearest stairwell, heading for the basement level that had been closed to her since she had arrived.  
  
  
  
Something told her that all her answers would be found down there, though another smaller voice told her most of it wouldn't be what she wanted to hear.  
  
  
  
As she silently descended the steel staircase, the door behind her flew open and the two guards yelled at her from half a level up.  
  
  
  
"Freeze kid."  
  
The second guard proceeded to clank heavily down the stairs as the first one kept the red dot of his laser sight pointed between her beautiful green eyes, and while she followed with her gaze, she notices the small blood trail she had left and wondered if it was hers or Monica's.  
  
  
  
"Damn, she is a cute one." the guard said as he put the knife she held in his belt and proceeded bind her hands behind her back with plastic riot handcuffs.  
  
  
  
His grip was fierce, and her hands soon went numb from the pain, but she dared not resist, knowing if she even thought of it, she would be dead in seconds.  
  
  
  
"Yeah, she's cute all right." the first guard said, smiling evilly. "Too bad... such a waste... She'd have grown up to be a pretty thing."  
  
  
  
"Well, we could always have our fun with her before we bring her to the boss." the second guard said, grabbing a handful of Kumiko's hair and pulling her head backwards so she was forced to look at him. "All he said was he wanted her alive."  
  
  
  
Kumiko spit at him, and his fist crashed heavily down on her face, sending her reeling into swirling colors of pain. As the pain began fading off into the darkness of unconsciousness, the two men's laughter was gladly swallowed up in blessed silence.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Jubilee sat quietly in the back of the Blackbird, the X-men's plane, alone with her thoughts.  
  
  
  
She had awoke this morning with a feeling in her gut that had been eating at her all morning as they flew to check up on some strange signals they had received from Cerebro, Professor Xavier's Mutant finding super computer.  
  
  
  
Where'd you go Wolvy? Jubilee asked herself as they streaked off to see who was summoning them.  
  
  
  
As she sat and stared out the window, seeing nothing but more questions, Storm, Leader of the X-men's Gold team and ruler of weather sighed softly.  
  
  
  
Gambit, who sat directly behind her, decided the mood called for his humor, and was always ready to make a fool of himself if it got a laugh out of someone.  
  
  
  
Leaning forward, he poked his face between the two seats in front of him, Storm on his left and a sleeping Rogue on his right.  
  
  
  
"What's wrong, you still wishin' dat I was sittin' up there with you?" Gambit smiled through the seats as Storm smiled.  
  
  
  
"No, only that you are not having to put up with Logan's comments today."  
  
  
  
"Awww." he snapped back at the attempt at a put down, not Storm's forte at all. "You jus' pickin' on de Cajun today, I see."  
  
  
  
"Nah." A booming voice replied from a few rows up, Cable turning and smiling, his left eye flashing in the sunlight from the window. "She picks on you everyday."  
  
  
  
Storm's laughter soon had everyone else laughing as well, except for Rogue, who was still asleep and Jubilee, who was in her own world.  
  
  
  
"Mind your business, Cable." Gambit smiled, pretending poorly to be mad.  
  
  
  
"You jus' jealous I'm gettin' all the attention from the pretty ladies."  
  
  
  
Receiving a playful slap from Storm, he sat back, hoping he helped a bit with everyone's mood, but mostly wishing Cyclops were here to stick in his usual boring speech about teamwork.  
  
  
  
Jean appeared then, from the cockpit of the plane where she and the blue bounding ball of fur, Beast, were flying the plane.  
  
  
  
Gambit started to say something smart, but Rogue, snapping awake and clamping a hand over his mouth as she floated over the seats silenced him.  
  
  
  
As he saw the look on Jean's face, he nodded and she released him, knowing something wasn't right.  
  
  
  
"We're about to land at the coordinates Cerebro specified." she began softly, looking directly at Jubilee.  
  
  
  
"Just tell me what I'm supposed to do." she said. "I'm ready."  
  
  
  
Smiling, Jean continued.  
  
  
  
"Ok, Storm, Gambit and Jubilee. When we land, your job is to meet up with Wolverine and wait for further orders."  
  
  
  
"Wolvy's here?" Jubilee said aloud, and Jean nodded.  
  
  
  
"You three will meet him and he'll fill you in on the situation."  
  
  
  
"What about me?" Cable said, standing and cocking a large pistol he carried.  
  
  
  
"Beast, Rogue and myself will scout the area, using our own talents." Jean said, ignoring him for the moment.  
  
  
  
"Cable got dissed." Jubilee put in quietly, and everyone laughed seriously for the first time in days. Even Cable himself having a deep chuckle at the youngest member as she tried to fit in.  
  
  
  
"Yeah, jus' like Cable, always jumpin' de gun."  
  
  
  
"Actually..." Jean interrupted "Cable has an important job."  
  
As the plane landed softly, and the main doors began to open, Jubilee stood.  
  
  
  
"What's Cable gonna do?" she asked, not wanting him to be mad at her for the earlier comment.  
  
  
  
"Simple darlin'." Wolverine's familiar voice said from the doorway as the engines died.  
  
  
  
"He's goin' in the front door with me."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Kumiko painfully awoke in a small, dark room.  
  
  
  
Shivering from laying on the floor in her thin pajamas, still damp with blood, she took the time to assess her injuries carefully.  
  
  
  
Bruised ribs, possibly broken. she thought, prodding her stiff and painful right side with her fingers. Otherwise I think I will live.  
  
  
  
Carefully tightening the wrap around her ribs, trying to keep them from moving as much as possible, she stood up gently and looked around the tiny room.  
  
  
  
It was tiny, she estimated four feet square and perhaps seven feet high. The only thing other than her in this room was a small window, which looked like it may contain one way glass. Kumiko couldn't tell for sure, there was some kind of cover on the opposite side, probably some kind of viewing room.  
  
  
  
A science laboratory?  
  
  
  
Suddenly, the viewing window opened, though she couldn't see who or what was on the other side, she at least had some light coming from the other side now.  
  
  
  
"Ahhh, My dear Kumiko is awake now." the voice over the speaker was unknown, but the way he spoke suggested he wasn't very friendly. "Did you enjoy your little nap?"  
  
  
  
The young girl said nothing, sitting down and decided to save her limited strength for any chance to escape she could get.  
  
  
  
"Oh, I see... you're going to ignore me now, is that it?" the voice said again, laughing now. "Fine, I don't need to talk to my test subjects anyway."  
  
  
  
"Test subject?" She asked, opening her eyes.  
  
  
  
"Well, 'Father' hasn't decided what he wants done with you yet. Dangerous creatures belong in cages, especially killers like yourself."  
  
  
  
"You lie!" Kumiko screamed, leaping to her feet and staring at the viewless window. "I refuse to kill people."  
  
  
  
"So you say."  
  
  
  
"I am not a killer." she replied simply, staring at the window.  
  
  
  
"In that case, I guess I can let you go then."  
  
  
  
The echoes of the door unlocking quickly filled the room.  
  
  
  
"I am... free?" she reached for the door in disbelief.  
  
  
  
"If you survive, you will be set free." the voice replied, the window going instantly dark once more as she opened the door.  
  
  
  
Swinging it outward, she peered into a dim room, only maybe twice the size of the one she was currently in. This second room though already had an owner, a large white tiger paced in a circle, watching her closely.  
  
  
  
As if on cue, the room behind her began to fill with some kind of gas from small holes in the walls, and Kumiko slammed the door, preferring the danger of the Tiger to the possible death of the unknown gas.  
  
  
  
"This is only the first test, so good luck." the voice said before the speakers went quiet once more.  
  
  
  
Instantly, the large cat pounced, and Kumiko barely rolled under it, She was fast, but the tiger was faster, and she soon found herself avoiding massive swipes from paws as large as her face as she scrambled backward.  
  
  
  
Then, she was in a corner, and the large cat was padding softly toward her, looking hungry.  
  
  
  
On impulse, she curled up and sprang, diving over the animal and swiped once at the base of it's neck.  
  
  
  
As she landed, she faced the opposite wall, and without turning to look, she heard the tiger fall over, and smiled as she stood slowly and carefully, forcing back the pain in her side.  
  
  
  
"I knew it, you couldn't even save a rare white tiger while saving yourself." the voice replied, the sound of more locks filling the room as the lights came on.  
  
  
  
"Look more closely, the Tiger only sleeps."  
  
  
  
Indeed, her blow had only incapacitated the animal, and it slept soundly, it's side rose and fell in it's slumber as a second door slid open to what was most likely more danger.  
  
  
  
"I stand corrected." the voice said again, softly.  
  
  
  
"Now am I free?"  
  
  
  
"Not yet, you still have two more tests."  
  
  
  
Kumiko sighed, hoping she could hold out. Her last leap had taken it's toll and her breath still came in short gasps as she walked slowly toward the next room.  
  
  
  
At least my troubles will soon end. she thought Nothing is more dangerous than a wild animal trapped in a cage.  
  
  
  
Little did she know how wrong she was.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Outside, the X-men tangled with a small army, all wearing purple and fighting 'for their Father'.  
  
  
  
Jubilee ran beside Cable, Wolverine and Gambit. Storm had dropped back a few minutes ago to make herself a distraction so the others could make it inside.  
  
  
  
Dropping and tumbling under a hail of bullets, Jubilee yelled a warning and threw up her contribution.  
  
  
  
Her mutant power of mysterious fireworks wasn't the coolest power she had seen, but it was great for situations like this.  
  
  
  
As her teammates covered their eyes, she let loose her multicolored 'plasmoids' as she called them, blinding everyone in a large area for a few moments as she and her teammates continued toward the front doors of the massive house.  
  
  
  
Once they got near the doors, Wolverine barked orders, and they all listened, knowing he had scouted the place before they had arrived and knew the layout better than they did. That and years of experience gave him seniority.  
  
  
  
"Gambit, take the roof, cover the area, Cable, rear guard... Jubilee..." he was cut off suddenly as he took a bullet in the shoulder.  
  
  
  
"Wolvy!" she dove to knock him to the ground as the gunfire continued for only a moment before Cable returned fire, sending injured guys everywhere, but not killing anyone. Xavier created the X-men to let Mutants and humans live in peace, and he trained his students never to kill.  
  
  
  
"Damn, no matter how many times I take a slug, it still hurts like a mo..." he noticed Jubilee staring at him and changed his language slightly. "... it still hurts a lot."  
  
  
  
Jubilee smiled as he stood up.  
  
  
  
"Now, as I was sayin'." he continued, knowing his Healing Factor would take care of his pain in a little while. "Jubilee, after I get the door, you do your  
  
thing."  
  
  
  
"Got it."  
  
  
  
One by one they nodded agreement, Gambit dashing toward the wall, Cable giving him cover fire as he easily climbed up on the roof, dispatching two roof gunners with his staff and turning and charging his right hand that suddenly held three cards to choose his next targets.  
  
  
  
Once Gambit was in position, Cable turned and smiled, pulling a large gun from off his back and unleashing a massive energy barrage, destroying the yard and sending troops scattering for cover.  
  
  
  
"Get to it Logan." Cable said over his shoulder.  
  
  
  
Wolverine ran for the door, popping his Adamantium claws and slashing the door to ribbons, Jubilee reaching into the room and setting off her fireworks as fast as she could move.  
  
  
  
Once they stepped inside, they noticed no one was inside. Jubilee pondered the situation as Wolverine spun, seeing Cable take a hit from his blind side.  
  
  
  
"Reinforcements." he mumbled over his shoulder as he dashed out the door.  
  
  
  
"Wolvy?" She started to follow him and he stopped. "What do I do?"  
  
  
  
"Stick to the plan." he said, smiling over his shoulder and running to help Cable.  
  
  
  
The plan? she wondered What plan?  
  
  
  
As she walked deeper into the house, she hoped she could find the girl they had come looking for before it was too late.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Kumiko meanwhile found herself diving and dodging numerous spikes and poles that seemed to randomly shoot and retract from the walls and ceiling.  
  
  
  
I can't take this much longer. she thought desperately, ducking one pole and instantly jumping a second before sidestepping a third the second she landed.  
  
  
  
Finally, one of the spears nicked her leg, and she recoiled a bit too far, a blunt pole smacking her in the kneecap of the other leg, dropping to her knees before another dull stick stabbed her hard in her already busted ribs.  
  
  
  
Screaming in pain, Kumiko tried desperately to and protect her side and retreat, but only received a stick to the arm and another deep scratch from a spear across her already bare stomach.  
  
  
  
Spending her last ounce of strength, she somersaulted backward into a  
  
corner where she only had to stay low to not get hit by anything before she blacked out slightly from the tremendous pain in her side.  
  
  
  
As she struggled to stay awake, a tremendous explosion shook her back to reality.  
  
  
  
"Hey, who are you?" the speaker voice said as the man walked in, red beams from his visor destroying everything in his path as he walked toward Kumiko.  
  
  
  
"The name's Cyclops." he replied, looking at and destroying the speaker with as the spears shuddered and stopped.  
  
  
  
"You..." she managed softly, coughing up a hint of blood as she tried to sit up.  
  
  
  
"Take it easy now." he said, his voice soft and gentle now as he knelt to reach for her. "Let's get you out of here, plenty of time for talk later."  
  
  
  
"I... dishonored a fellow warrior." she replied, her breath shallow and voice ragged from her ordeal. "My life is now default."  
  
  
  
"You only did what you were told." he replied just as easily as he gently picked her up and carried her out the hole he had walked into. "You were tricked, no one blames you for the choices you've made."  
  
  
  
"No... I..." she tried to talk, but began coughing again.  
  
  
  
"If you wanted to, you could have killed me with that shot."  
  
  
  
"I... am not a killer..." her breath still shallow, but her voice was smoother now.  
  
  
  
"No you're not." Cyclops agreed "Which is why you owe me nothing."  
  
  
  
"But you saved me..."  
  
  
  
"I'd say that makes us even. you didn't kill me, I didn't let you die." he said, quieting her with his smile.  
  
  
  
Smiling faintly herself, now knowing she was safe, Kumiko abruptly fainted.  
  
* * * * *  
  
  
  
Jubilee reached the top of the stairs just as a familiar voice called her name from the bottom.  
  
  
  
Spinning and focusing, she stared in disbelief at the two figures she saw headed toward the ruins of the front door.  
  
  
  
"Cyclops?" She asked quietly, wondering if this was another dream.  
  
  
  
His smile turned to a frown as he yelled the warning.  
  
  
  
She whirled quickly to see the fist just as it connected with the side of her face, staggering her backwards.  
  
  
  
Reeling in pain, she suddenly remembered her training. The second punch flew at blinding speed toward her face, and she twirled toward and into it, grabbing the wrist and continuing her spin, pulling the man off balance.  
  
  
  
As she watched him tumble down the large, elegant staircase, she slipped herself and fell backwards, thumping her head on the railing and instantly blacking out.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Outside, Cable growled and fired, his dual pistols shredding ground and trees alike as he unloaded round after round at the already scattered enemy troops.  
  
  
  
Wolverine meanwhile was crouching and waiting as Gambit slid down to ground level to ready their escape plan.  
  
  
  
As they stood ready for Jubilee to come out with the expected young girl, an unexpected voice called from inside the house.  
  
  
  
"Hey guys, get in here." Cyclops called.  
  
  
  
Wolverine was the first in the door, and he smiled.  
  
  
  
"And everyone gives me grief when I get out of a sickbed..." he joked, jogging up the stairs to grab the young Jubilee.  
  
  
  
"Cyke!" Gambit exclaimed, smiling himself now. "What you doin' here?"  
  
  
  
"Saving a new friend." he nodded to the young girl he carried in his arms,  
  
who looked peaceful despite the scars, blood and state of her clothes.  
  
  
  
Gambit shook his head.  
  
  
  
"Here we got da married man out lookin' for da girls to sweep off dey feet." he replied at the sight jokingly. "Pathetic, no?"  
  
  
  
Logan walked by, Jubilee in his arms.  
  
  
  
"Yeah Gumbo, but not as bad as you always gettin' dumped by Rogue all the time."  
  
  
  
Cyclops chuckled.  
  
  
  
"The way I see it, Logan and I have girls, where's yours?"  
  
  
  
Cable laughed from the doorway as the Blackbird landed in the middle of the yard for easy loading. Soon, the rest of the X-men gathering around the ramp as they loaded the two girls into the plane, grabbing a handy first aid kit and binding their wounds as they tried to figure out their next move.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Kumiko painfully drifted back into reality, slowly opening her eyes to see a beautiful young girl smiling at her.  
  
  
  
"How are you feeling?" Jubilee asked, carefully helping the other girl sit up.  
  
  
  
Looking around, she lay in a large metal room, closely resembling a hospital.  
  
  
  
"The infirmary." Jubilee said quietly, popping her bubble gum and smiling.  
  
  
  
"It's a little quiet, but it's better than any hospital, less questions and better service."  
  
  
  
Though she was only wearing a loose fitting T-shirt, she slowly tried to get up and walk around.  
  
  
  
"Hey, if you go tearing your stitches, Storm is gonna skin me alive!" Jubilee exclaimed, jogging around to help her new friend ease to her feet.  
  
  
  
"Skin you... alive?" Kumiko asked cautiously.  
  
Jubilee thought for a second, then smiled.  
  
  
  
"Oh, no... not really... it's a figure of speech."  
  
  
  
"My English is not perfect yet..."  
  
  
  
"It's OK." Jubilee silenced her. "My fault."  
  
  
  
After a few minutes walking around the Infirmary, Kumiko felt strong enough to leave, and Jubilee handed her a black sun dress.  
  
  
  
"That should fit you, it's mine and I think we're about the same size."  
  
  
  
Bowing to show her gratitude, Kumiko fell to her knees in pain.  
  
  
  
Jubilee was instantly by her side as she tried to stand again.  
  
  
  
"You're welcome, just take it easy." Jubilee said, helping her to a nearby chair. "You really shouldn't even be up yet. From what I hear, you got thrashed pretty good back there."  
  
  
  
"Thrashed?"  
  
  
  
Jubilee smiled again, brushing the bangs out of her own face before pulling out a comb and fixing Kumiko's tangled and matted hair as she explained a little bit about American slang.  
  
  
  
Though she was clean and had just slipped into the fresh smelling dress,  
  
Kumiko was still in a little bit of pain, and tipsy from the medicine she had been given on the flight back to the Mansion, but she was determined, with Jubilee's help, to thank the people who had rescued her.  
  
  
  
As they slowly glided down the corridor, Jubilee couldn't help but feel close to this girl she still knew nothing about, and pondering the thought for a moment, decided to tell her of the dreams she had been having lately.  
  
  
  
Jubilee soon found herself sitting on the main staircase, telling this girl about these dreams, and for some reason, she didn't mind spilling her guts to someone her own age.  
  
  
  
Kumiko listened quietly, glad to catch her breath for a moment, but also happy to sit and talk to someone who obviously liked her for what she was, nothing more than a young girl.  
  
  
  
"Pardon my asking." Kumiko said after Jubilee had finished. "I feel I am at a disadvantage, you seem to know me, yet I do not know you."  
  
  
  
"Um.. sorry." Jubilee said, blushing slightly, realizing she may have said too much.  
  
  
  
"What is your name?"  
  
  
  
"Oh geez, I'm sorry, you don't know anything, do you?"  
  
  
  
Kumiko shook her head, staring at the floor as if she had said something to upset her new friend.  
  
  
  
"Hey." Jubilee said said quietly, tilting her head back up and smiling. "It's my fault..."  
  
  
  
Taking a deep breath to steady her jangled nerves, she introduced herself.  
  
  
  
"My name is Jubilation Lee, but most people call me Jubilee."  
  
  
  
Thinking for a moment, Kumiko smiled.  
  
  
  
"Like a celebration?"  
  
  
  
"Yeah, I guess..." Jubilee blushed.  
  
  
  
"It is a precious name, it matches your soul."  
  
  
  
"Thanks." she replied softly, blushing.  
  
  
  
"My name is Kumiko Kuromori."  
  
  
  
The younger girl blinked.  
  
  
  
"Beautiful."  
  
  
  
"Translated, it comes out like this..."  
  
  
  
Jubilee jerked around to see Logan, leaning against a wall, smoking his usual cigar. Before she could scold him for sneaking up on her, he continued.  
  
  
  
"Kumiko breaks down into somethin' like Ku mi ko, or 'Eternal Beautiful Child'... Kuromori is something like 'Black Forest' if my Japanese ain't as rusty as my ol' joints."  
  
  
  
"You are from the rooftop, and I suspect you were trained as I was." the slightly older girl put in, the Japanese in her voice now very apparent.  
  
  
  
"Different Sensei I imagine, but the same arts, yeah."  
  
  
  
"OK, I'd really like to be filled in here."  
  
  
  
Kumiko looked downcast as Jubilee between her and Logan in confusion.  
  
  
  
"You can trust her." Logan said to Kumiko, turning and walking off down the hallway. "She's a good girl, her heart's in the right place."  
  
After a long pause, she arrived at a decision.  
  
  
  
"Jubilee, my friend, I have things I need to tell you, and I fear some may upset you. If you wish to not burden yourself, I will understand."  
  
Sliding over to sit next to her new friend, she hugged her without thought.  
  
  
  
"I dunno what it is you wanna tell me, but I'll listen if you ever need to talk."  
  
  
  
"I would like that."  
  
  
  
"OK then, after dinner tonight, we'll have a good old fashioned Slumber Party in my room."  
  
  
  
"You would have me stay in your own room after what I have done to your friends?"  
  
  
  
"Cyclops... well, Scott that is..." Jubilee sighed, trying to put her thoughts into words. "I know about you shooting at him, and that's one of the reason we rescued you."  
  
  
  
Kumiko was truly confused now, and the look on her face showed that emotion all too well.  
  
  
  
"You're a Mutant, so am I... actually everyone here is. This school was built to help people like us fit in in a world that hates us and tries to use us to do evil."  
  
  
  
"Like myself..."  
  
  
  
"Like you, and me..."  
  
  
  
"You?" Kumiko asked softly.  
  
  
  
Sniffling back tears, Jubilee smiled.  
  
  
  
"We'll talk tonight, I promise."  
  
  
  
Kumiko nodded agreement, and Jubilee helped her up once more, the two friends continuing their tour of the Mansion.  
  
  
  
As they slowly made their way down the main hallway, a shadow smiled from a nearby dark corner, and instantly faded away.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Surprising everyone, Jubilee had asked Xavier for special permission to let Kumiko bunk with her, giving the reason she was still injured and might need help getting around for a few days. Xavier had agreed, knowing the true reason for her asking, but not letting on, after all, 'Jubilee having a friend her own age was a good thing.' he had remarked mentally to Jean Grey, who had agreed instantly.  
  
  
  
Later that evening, as promised, the two young friends began their talk as they relaxed in their room.  
  
  
  
Jubilee was wearing her favorite purple nightshirt and a pair of matching socks, and sat on the floor facing her friend. Kumiko was similarly dressed in a long pink T-shirt she had been given from Jubilee as she stretched out on her brand new bed that had been carried in earlier for her. Storm's stern warning before they had left of 'Take it easy' was still fresh in her mind.  
  
  
  
"I was raised by foster parents before I came here." Jubilee began finally, staring at the floor "My real parents were killed a long time ago."  
  
  
  
"That is very sad." Kumiko said softly.  
  
  
  
"Yeah." she continued "I miss my birth parents, but to tell the truth, I think of everyone here as more of a family then my foster parents, I mean they were cool, but like... I dunno, it just... didn't feel like a family."  
  
  
  
"I believe I understand." Kumiko said "I lost my family seven years ago... and I thought of a woman I met soon after as a new family."  
  
  
  
"What was her name?"  
  
  
  
"Hiromi."  
  
  
  
Noticing her friends face, Jubilee smiled.  
  
  
  
"Tell me about her, about Hiromi."  
  
  
  
"She was Ninja," Kumiko said quietly as she remembered her former master  
  
  
  
"She had been banished by her former clan for sparing the life of a young boy on a mission long ago."  
  
  
  
Jubilee blinked in surprise.  
  
  
  
"That explains why you and Wolvy were hitting it off so well earlier, He knows some kinda stuff like that too."  
  
  
  
"Yes." Kumiko went on "I was trained as Ninja for six years before coming to  
  
America to find the people who killed my parents."  
  
  
  
"So, do you have any ideas who killed your parents yet?"  
  
  
  
Kumiko sighed.  
  
  
  
"One man worked as a guard in the place where you rescued me, but I imagine he has long since vanished."  
  
  
  
Jubilee stood, deep in thought, and leaned against the wall, crossing her arms and putting one foot on the wall like she had seen Rogue do once, thinking it was really cool.  
  
  
  
"From what I could tell, and from the info I picked up after we rescued you, everyone who worked there as guards were ex-military type guys, all booted out or left for different reasons."  
  
  
  
"The others there were like that as well, all children with problem pasts, or who had run away from home."  
  
  
  
As soon as she finished, Kumiko leapt out of bed, a sudden brainstorm and a rush of adrenaline hitting simultaneously as she finally understood.  
  
  
  
"The men were military?" she asked Jubilee again.  
  
  
  
"Yeah." she nodded "A lot of 'em like Army dudes."  
  
  
  
"The tank..."  
  
  
  
"Tank? I never saw any tank..."  
  
  
  
"When my parents were killed, it was done by a military squad of some type, and they finished the job with a tank."  
  
  
  
Jubilee gasped in horror.  
  
  
  
"Killed by a tank? That's insane."  
  
  
  
"They were dead before the tank arrived..." Kumiko paused, the memory chilling her as she saw it all again "They used the monster to 'Napalm' the house so no trace would be left.  
  
  
  
"Napalm? What's that?"  
  
  
  
"I do not know, but the smell of the flames will haunt me forever..." Kumiko said, closing her hand into a fist. "I will make them pay for what they have done."  
  
  
  
"I'll help."  
  
  
  
Kumiko blinked, looking at her friend in confusion.  
  
  
  
"I can't replace your family, or your former life, but I can help you bring those who ruined it to justice... as your friend."  
  
  
  
Then the pain flared in her side, as the adrenaline started to wear off, and she clutched her side and cried out softly.  
  
  
  
As she watched her friend collapse onto her bed, Jubilee saw the side of her pink T-shirt was now a reddish color.  
  
  
  
"Take it easy." she said, sitting down next to her friend and lifting up her shirt to assess the damage.  
  
  
  
Kumiko said nothing as her friend pulled a first aid kit from under her bed and sat down and tended the re-opened wound in her side.  
  
  
  
"You have to take it easy for a few days." Jubilee said softly as she worked.  
  
  
  
"I must ask you a favor."  
  
  
  
"Don't worry, I won't tell Storm...."  
  
  
  
Silencing her friend by sitting up, Kumiko shook her head, the pain in her face obvious.  
  
  
  
"This is a different favor, one much more dangerous." she said through clenched teeth "I need you to help me find this guard, the one I spoke of."  
  
  
  
"Sure, once you're better..."  
  
  
  
Placing a shaking hand over her friends mouth, she continued.  
  
  
  
"If you are to help me, we must go now... tonight." she sighed, releasing her gentle grip and shivering from the intense pain of sitting up. "If we wait, I fear I will never find him again."  
  
  
  
Forgetting about her friend's injuries for the moment, Jubilee pondered the situation carefully.  
  
  
  
If I run off and help her, I'll get in trouble... but if I don't, I'll be letting down a friend...  
  
  
  
"If you decide not to help me, I will understand... I do not want to burden you with my problems."  
  
  
  
On the other hand, if I do help her, and we manage to pull this off, I'll prove I'm X-men material for sure, and no one will treat me like a kid anymore.  
  
  
  
"I'll help you." Jubilee said, silently hoping she had made the right decision.  
  
  
  
Kumiko's eyes glistened with fresh tears of pain and joy.  
  
  
  
"First thing's first though..."  
  
  
  
Pushing her friend back down on the bed, Jubilee started all over, cleaning and wrapping Kumiko's wounds as her new roommate slowly relaxed, yawning from the pain medication she had been taking all day.  
  
  
  
After she finished, Jubilee started to help her friend change, and when Kumiko refused, she pretended to be mad, and acting like a fashion designer readying for a huge show.  
  
  
  
Finally Kumiko explained how she slept, and Jubilee blushed slightly.  
  
  
  
"It is very comfortable, besides, unlike here in America, Japanese people find it common to talk like I am about things like this, within reason." Kumiko tried to explain, seeing her friend's expression change in confusion.  
  
  
  
"I started when I was ten years old, and I grew used to it from my long years of training... after a lot of time learning Martial Arts, Ninjitsu especially, you are uncomfortable if you can not move freely in what you wear."  
  
  
  
"Yeah... Wolvy said something about that once, he said that's why most Karate guys wear those things that are all baggy."  
  
  
  
"Yes, add to that my difficult and very demanding training. Some nights I fell asleep over dinner, and sometimes I simply forgot to change get dressed after I would bathe in the lake nearby... that is how it truly started, and after six years, it is has brown into habit of mine."  
  
  
  
Not to mention the scars I spent weeks healing from from my run through the woods the first night I met Hiromi... or the ones I received during training...  
  
  
  
"I think I understand... but it's still not something I'm used to." Jubilee grinned.  
  
  
  
"If it bothers you..."  
  
  
  
"Nah, we're both girls here. " Jubilee smirked, then added "If you're comfortable sleeping like that, knock yourself out. I'm just kinda glad you said something."  
  
  
  
Kumiko started to reply, but the words were lost in her stifled yawn, and  
  
  
  
Jubilee smiled.  
  
  
  
"OK, that says enough... tonight we sleep... tomorrow we go looking for that guy."  
  
  
  
"But what if..."  
  
  
  
Placing one finger to her lips, Jubilee silenced her friend.  
  
  
  
"It's been three days, he won't get too much farther away in another few hours... besides, you ARE still hurt... and I can get around better in the daytime."  
  
  
  
Kumiko nodded, yawning again and sitting up carefully, turning off the lamp and taking off her shirt in the dark as Jubilee hopped into her own bed.  
  
  
  
"Goodnight Jubilee."  
  
  
  
"'Nite Kumiko." Jubilee replied, yawning herself and tossing a sheet over herself as Kumiko lay down carefully and did the same.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Jubilee lay in bed for what seemed like a few hours, but after turning over and looking at the clock, she realized it was maybe half an hour.  
  
  
  
Sitting up and looking around to test her visibility in the darkness, she saw Kumiko's back, and watched her side slowly rise and fall with every breath from where the sheet was pulled sideways from her friends painful slumber and shivered.  
  
  
  
To go through what she has... I wouldn't wish that on anyone.  
  
  
  
Jubilee? Xavier's calm mental voice floated into her mind.  
  
  
  
Just thinking...  
  
  
  
About Kumiko I imagine.  
  
  
  
What are you psychic? she replied, trying to be funny, though as she watched her friend's troublesome sleep grow worse, she couldn't bring herself to smile.  
  
  
  
Come to the Danger Room, I have something to show you that might answer some questions.  
  
  
  
"The Danger Room?" she whispered quietly.  
  
  
  
Come as you are if you like, this isn't a training session.  
  
  
  
Jubilee slipped on her fuzzy slippers and shuffled toward the elevator to the Danger Room.  
  
  
  
The X-men had long ago nicknamed it the 'Danger Room' because it was just that, dangerous. Mostly they used it to practice or expand the potential of their mutant powers without destroying anything, but they also used it for real time simulations. Between the holograms and invisible machinery that lurked inside, it had dished out almost as much punishment as it had taken over the years.  
  
  
  
As she descended the elevator, a familiar smell did bring a smile to her face.  
  
  
  
The smoky aroma of a fresh cigar.  
  
  
  
Before the doors had fully opened on the second floor basement, she saw Logan leaning against the far wall, cigar in his mouth and his favorite cowboy hat on his head.  
  
  
  
"Hi Wolvy." she said,yawning and shuffling once more to the Danger Room where Xavier awaited.  
  
  
  
"Goin' to see Charlie at this time 'o' mornin'?" he asked, falling into step beside her. "What'd you do this time?"  
  
  
  
She giggled.  
  
  
  
"Nothing... he wants to show me something."  
  
  
  
"Hmmm."  
  
  
  
Jubilee stopped mid-stride and looked at him, mocking annoyance, he never 'Hmmm'd' unless he knew something she didn't.  
  
  
  
"OK, Spill it Wolvy." she said. crossing her arms and tapping her foot.  
  
  
  
"It's about her ain't it?"  
  
  
  
"If 'her' means Kumiko, yeah."  
  
  
  
"Thought so." he replied and started off down the hall the way they had come.  
  
  
  
"What's THAT supposed to mean?" she asked him as he stopped at the elevator and pushed the up button.  
  
  
  
"Just this... be careful what you ask for."  
  
  
  
She scowled and stomped off.  
  
  
  
Who does he think he is anyway, thinking he knows me better than I know myself... I swear he does it to get under my skin...  
  
  
  
He is only looking out for you in his own way, even though he does have a different way of doing so. Xavier's mental voice said quietly.  
  
  
  
Jubilee reached the doors of the Danger Room just then, and they slid open with a rush of air and massive metallic crunch.  
  
  
  
Again she scolded herself for her attire as she held her shirt down from the onrush of air and stomped inside, realizing she wasn't wearing her favorite trenchcoat for the first time in a while.  
  
  
  
"Ready Jubilee?" Xavier asked over the loudspeaker from the control room, one of the few places Jubilee had never been.  
  
  
  
"Um... I guess... What are you gonna show me?"  
  
  
  
Before her eyes, the cold, huge silver metallic room faded and swirled into a small hillside in the summertime.  
  
  
  
I'll NEVER get used to that she thought quickly as the smells and sounds of a summer day awakened her senses.  
  
  
  
Realizing how she was dressed once again, she looked up to where she guessed the control room was and smirked.  
  
  
  
"Can you kick the wind down just a smidge?"  
  
  
  
The wind soon died to a slight breeze, and Jubilee smiled, now fully enjoying the beautiful day, even though deep down she knew it was only a simulation.  
  
  
  
"To your right Jubilee." Xavier's voice said over the loudspeaker.  
  
  
  
Turning and glancing down the hill, she saw a beautiful house at the base of the hill, a forest of trees covering everything but the clearing she stood in.  
  
  
  
"Pretty house." she said, a split second before it burst into flame.  
  
Jubilee scowled and started to head down the hill, and Xavier's voice floated once more into her head.  
  
  
  
Stay and watch... there's nothing to be done.  
  
  
  
Letting out a sigh, Jubilee didn't have to wait long.  
  
  
  
Scampering up the hill and stumbling toward her came Kumiko. She looked much younger, her face and body dirty, scratched and bruised, her hair matted and perhaps longer, but this poor wreck of a young girl was unmistakably Kumiko.  
  
  
  
"Kumiko?"  
  
  
  
"She can't hear you, this is just a programmed simulation of what I got from her earlier while you two talked.  
  
  
  
"You were spying?" Jubilee snapped.  
  
  
  
"Not exactly... I was more searching."  
  
  
  
"What for?"  
  
  
  
"To be sure she told the truth, as I have done with everyone here at one time."  
  
  
  
"You spy on everyone?"  
  
  
  
"It's not spying Jubilee." he replied, the simulation ongoing as the young Kumiko drug herself off into a thicket and collapsed in exhaustion, "I simply use this information for special reasons."  
  
  
  
Jubilee glanced around as she watched a flock of birds fly through the sky.  
  
  
  
"OK, so what do you use... this for?"  
  
  
  
"Well, I mostly use it to help new students."  
  
  
  
"Help? New students?" Jubilee gasped, smiling. "You mean..."  
  
  
  
"Kumiko is welcome permanently if she so desires, but it is her choice to make."  
  
  
  
Suddenly Jubilee's mind spun.  
  
  
  
Does that mean he knows about tomorrow... and if not, what if tomorrow affects his decision... or what if we get back and she decides not to stay?  
  
  
  
Jubilee quickly bit her lip and tried to think of something else, hoping he wasn't reading her thoughts as she stood here.  
  
  
  
"Something wrong?" he asked.  
  
  
  
"No... um... I'm just kinda stunned."  
  
  
  
"Stunned?"  
  
  
  
"Well yeah... I mean... here I have a new friend, and I'm looking into her  
  
past... and I dunno if I should..."  
  
  
  
"I understand."  
  
  
  
The simulation dissolved, and Jubilee found herself in a upraised section of floor as it slowly descended to it's original resting place.  
  
  
  
Faking a yawn, Jubilee walked for the doors.  
  
  
  
"Well, thanks Professor, I'll tell Kumiko when she wakes up... but I need my beauty sleep."  
  
  
  
"Of course." the loudspeaker replied once before it went silent once more.  
  
  
  
Trying not to act as concerned as she was, she walked to the elevator, pushing the button that would take her back upstairs.  
  
  
  
Kumiko was right, if we're gonna do this, we have to go now.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Kumiko's sleep was short and full of pain, and she soon awoke after hearing the door open and close.  
  
  
  
She rolled over carefully, the pain renewed in her side, and covered herself in the sheet, wondering where Jubilee had gone.  
  
  
  
A short time later, she jumped as someone knocked on the door.  
  
  
  
"You may enter." she said, softly moaning in pain.  
  
  
  
Rogue, still slightly red-eyed from her own sleepless night, softly padded in.  
  
  
  
"Where'd Jubilee get to??"  
  
  
  
Finally catching her breath and managing to sit up after the other woman closed the door, Kumiko shrugged.  
  
  
  
"I do not know, she left only a while ago."  
  
  
  
"Probably couldn't sleep, and went for a moonlight swim to cool off."  
  
  
  
"Moonlight swim?"  
  
  
  
Sitting on Kumiko's bed, Rogue smiled warmly.  
  
  
  
"Yup, she goes skinny dippin' once in a while to relax in the middle of the night. Since she's been here, she's has trouble sleepin' once in a blue moon. Ah dunno why, but then again, ah never asked. Ah always figured if she needed me to know, she'd tell me."  
  
  
  
Kumiko giggled softly, and explained about her own sleeping habits, and Rogue soon laughed with her.  
  
  
  
They talked for a while in the darkness, not having much in common, but both very friendly and willing to listen to the other. Finally, Rogue asked if she could turn on the lights, explaining she always felt warmer in the light, and that the room seemed a little chilly to her.  
  
  
  
She agreed, and clicked on the lamp next to her bed.  
  
  
  
"My goodness girl, are you OK?" Rogue asked, hopping to her side and tossing back the maroon speckled sheets with her blinding speed.  
  
  
  
"No wonder I woke up when I did..."  
  
  
  
She gazed at her again re-opened wound and slowly lay down once more, Rogue finding the first-aid kit and starting to sit down and open it before she realized what she was about to do.  
  
  
  
"Let me go get someone to patch ya up real fast... ah ain't the right person for this kinda thing."  
  
  
  
Kumiko smiled faintly.  
  
  
  
"If I could do it myself, I would... but I think I understand... you always wear gloves, so you fear the touch of others?"  
  
  
  
"For their own safety." she replied, tossing down the first-aid kit and hurrying out the door to find Jubilee.  
  
  
  
Kumiko was alone with her thoughts for a time, and then the door opened to a frightened Jubilee, who scampered to get dressed.  
  
  
  
"What troubles you?"  
  
  
  
"We gotta go... now."  
  
  
  
"But..."  
  
  
  
"Xavier knows about us leaving tomorrow, and he knows about you and your past... so we gotta leave before they stop us."  
  
  
  
Nodding her understanding, Kumiko sat up, tossing on the old, already bloodstained shirt and grabbing a borrowed pair of jeans. After she tucked the shirt in and tightened the belt, she was in less pain, and her injury was invisible.  
  
  
  
Jubilee was dressed now as well, wearing the purple shirt under her yellow trenchcoat, she had tossed on her favorite blue shorts and tucked the shirt in to look normal on the streets. Quickly lacing up her tennis shoes and giving Kumiko a pair to use, she explained her plan for getting out of the mansion.  
  
  
  
"First we gotta get outside, that shouldn't be too hard... then hike to the gate..."  
  
  
  
"An idea... and a request." Kumiko said quietly as she looked at the shoes she had been given.  
  
  
  
"Shoot."  
  
  
  
"Your friend Rogue... She could be a great help?"  
  
  
  
"She'd go tell Xavier first chance she got." Jubilee sighed, wishing Rogue was here now.  
  
  
  
"Perhaps..."  
  
  
  
Jubilee's street smarts were in full swing, and she knew her friend was thinking.  
  
  
  
"What's the plan?"  
  
  
  
"Go and find Rogue."  
  
  
  
"You got it."  
  
  
  
"One more thing before you leave..."  
  
  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
  
  
Kumiko simply stared at her shoes, trying to find words.  
  
  
  
"Need a hand?" Jubilee smiled, remembering when Kumiko had bowed earlier that day... bending over was out of the question.  
  
  
  
Kumiko couldn't speak for the sudden and overwhelming tears, and Jubilee's smile faded. She just stood and hugged her friend, sitting her down on her own bed and holding her until the tears stopped.  
  
  
  
"I have never felt so helpless..."  
  
  
  
"Shhhhhhhhh."  
  
  
  
"... and I think I upset Rogue..."  
  
  
  
Jubilee just rocked her silently, not knowing what to say.  
  
  
  
"... and now, I'm making you leave your home and family to help me in an impossible quest..."  
  
  
  
Holding the still sobbing Kumiko at arm length, Jubilee looked deep into her eyes.  
  
  
  
"You aren't forcing me to do anything, I WANT to help you... so you just take it easy... everything's gonna be OK."  
  
  
  
Hugging her once more, Jubilee silently shed a few tears herself, until soon, she noticed the sobbing had subsided, and Kumiko was peacefully asleep.  
  
  
  
Laying her down and tossing a blanket over her, she sat on her own bed and cried herself for the first time in a very long time.  
  
  
  
Rogue, listening outside sniffled once and walked off... deciding to help these two, and she knew the best way, was to go straight to the top.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Later, in another room of the School for Gifted Youngsters, Charles Francis Xavier, founder and mentor to his X-men sat in his yellow hover chair under a massive helmet.  
  
  
  
The helmet, created to directly connect the user to Cerebro, the Mansion's main computer, doubled as a psychic amplifier.  
  
In this case though, he only used it to browse the virtual file he was creating for Kumiko, for the possibility that she would eventually join the X-men. Even if she decided not to join, Xavier still kept records on every mutant he had come in contact with, in case they became a threat to humanity.  
  
  
  
Scanning the files, he noticed a small one he hadn't noticed before.  
  
  
  
"Cerebro, where did this file come from?" he asked.  
  
  
  
"Location unknown." the smooth artificial voice replied "It was added only a few moments ago."  
  
  
  
"Where from?"  
  
  
  
"Inside the main house... second floor... women's dorm area... room fifteen."  
  
  
  
"Room fifteen?" Xavier said aloud. "That's..."  
  
  
  
"Room fifteen... Jubilation Lee."  
  
  
  
Instantly, the alert sounded and the Mansion locked down. In case the intruder was still in the building, they couldn't escape.  
  
  
  
"X-Men! Xavier said over the loudspeaker. "There is a possible intruder in the Women's Dormitory area. Capture is requested, but do NOT use force."  
  
* * * * *  
  
In another part of the mansion, Logan sprinted toward where the trouble was, scowling as he heard the announcement.  
  
  
  
"No force? Sure Charlie, whatever you say..."  
  
  
  
As he turned a corner, Gambit fell into step beside him.  
  
  
  
"Intruder? Dey mus' be pretty good to sneak in here, no?"  
  
  
  
"They gotta be the best... I have trouble sneaking in and out, and I know the layout."  
  
  
  
Gambit smiled as they ran, hoping this intruder was a friend, and could teach him some tricks.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Jubilee freaked.  
  
  
  
"My room?"  
  
  
  
Yes Jubilee, where is Kumiko? Xavier's voice said in her brain.  
  
  
  
"Still asleep!"  
  
  
  
She was off like a shot, ignoring the warnings from Xavier that flew through her mind as she raced to help her new friend.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Logan slid to a stop in front of Jubilee's room where Rogue, Storm and Jean  
  
Grey all stood, waiting for anything.  
  
  
  
"What's the situation?" Logan asked as Gambit, not quiet a match for his speed just now slid into the area.  
  
  
  
Rogue scowled.  
  
  
  
"Ah can't budge the door no way and no how... it's sealed with some kinda force field or somethin'."  
  
  
  
Jean shook her head in frustration as well.  
  
  
  
"Who ever IS in there, I can't read their mind."  
  
  
  
"I thought as much."  
  
  
  
"You know somthin' Logan?" Gambit asked.  
  
  
  
"Just a hunch Gumbo... but it's eatin' at me..."  
  
  
  
"The last time I heard those words from you Logan, you ended up in the infirmary for two days after Sabertooth..."  
  
  
  
Storm decided not to finish, knowing the memories they all had after the time Sabertooth had held Jubilee hostage while they were off, only Logan had saw the truth in his enemies eyes, and returned to save her life.  
  
  
  
"That's in the past." Logan replied, pulling his mask down over his face.  
  
  
  
"Besides, I think I know who your guest is."  
  
  
  
"Well don't keep us in suspense now sugar." Rogue said, smiling innocently. "Ah hate it when ya'll do that."  
  
  
  
Wolverine just shook his head.  
  
  
  
"She's Ninja."  
  
  
  
"She?" everyone replied in unison.  
  
  
  
"Probably Kumiko's ol' Sensei... come to visit."  
  
  
  
"OK Logan, How do you know..."  
  
  
  
"Simple Gambit." he cut off his teammate with a pat on the shoulder. "She ain't wearing no perfume or nothin', so I can barely smell her. The seal on the door is probably what Gaijin like me call 'Ninja Magic', though I imagine it's mainly more mind tricks. And finally, if Kumiko was in any danger, she'd have screamed or somethin' by now I imagine."  
  
  
  
"Makes sense." Jean said. "Let me try something."  
  
  
  
"Now what?" Rogue said quietly so as not to break Jean's concentration.  
  
  
  
"If I know Red, she ain't tryin' to mind link with the visitor anymore, but with Kumiko."  
  
  
  
"Ah get it, lock in on the brain waves she knows."  
  
  
  
"Exactly." he replied, walking toward the door and waiting on Jean to finish.  
  
  
  
Gambit stepped quietly behind Jean just before she staggered backwards into his arms, exhausted by the effort.  
  
  
  
"Hmm, fallin' into my arms now chere?" Gambit smiled.  
  
  
  
"She's blocking me, but she is safe..." Jean said, smiling, but ignoring his comment.  
  
  
  
Wolverine had heard enough, popping his claws and ripping the door in half like so much paper.  
  
  
  
As the door fell outwards, he received a swift kick to the jaw for his trouble, which he easily caught after it connected.  
  
  
  
"You're fast." he replied, a small sliver of blood running down his chin.  
  
  
  
"As are you." the beautiful masked woman replied, quickly hopping up and spin kicking him in the side, forcing him to release her foot to block.  
  
  
  
Gambit took a step forward, twirling his metal Bo staff and smiling.  
  
  
  
"Shall we dance, chere?" he asked.  
  
  
  
"If you wish."  
  
  
  
"Oh no, this one's mine." Rogue said, and everyone stood back to give the two opponents room.  
  
  
  
Bowing in respect, the woman stood again, ready for battle.  
  
  
  
Rogue just smiled, and punched, hitting the air the would have been the other woman's head.  
  
  
  
Spinning, she landed another empty punch where her body was only a second before.  
  
  
  
Before she could stand a third time, she found herself on the floor.  
  
  
  
"You may be fast, and ah may not be able to hit you." Rogue said, getting up and dusting herself off "but you can't hurt me, and you'll wear yourself out soon enough."  
  
  
  
"Stop this."  
  
  
  
Kumiko's feeble voice said from the bedroom.  
  
  
  
"Kumiko?"  
  
  
  
"Please master, no more... these are my new friends."  
  
  
  
Wolverine walked forward, smiling.  
  
  
  
"Your student speaks the truth." he said in perfect Japanese. "We mean no harm to you or her."  
  
  
  
"You were trained in the arts?"  
  
  
  
"That was a long time ago, but yes, I know a little."  
  
  
  
She bowed, removing her mask.  
  
  
  
"My name is Hiromi."  
  
  
  
Wolverine did the same, pulling back his own mask.  
  
  
  
"Logan is my name, and I am honored to meet someone who can get in here without leaving a trace."  
  
  
  
Hiromi laughed softly.  
  
  
  
"It was not easy, I needed most of my skills to do so."  
  
  
  
Rogue watched the two talk for a while, then walked into the bedroom to check on Kumiko.  
  
  
  
"Rogue..." Kumiko said quietly.  
  
  
  
"Storm! Get your fanny in here, NOW!"  
  
  
  
Storm hurried in, assessed the situation, then yelled instructions to Gambit.  
  
  
  
"Go and fetch me a first aid kit and a stretcher!"  
  
  
  
Gambit nodded, running off with an audible 'woof woof'.  
  
  
  
Logan watched him go, and turned to Hiromi, who seemed at ease now.  
  
  
  
"She is in good hands, I see that now." she said softly.  
  
  
  
"We should meet Xavier, he will want to talk to you." Logan said.  
  
  
  
"This Xavier, is he your Sensei?"  
  
  
  
Logan laughed, shaking his head and walking down the hall, Hiromi following quietly.  
  
  
  
"No, Charles is more like a father than anything."  
  
  
  
"I see I still have so much to learn about your world."  
  
  
  
Replying in English, Logan chuckled.  
  
  
  
"Yup, all 'o' us here do, that's why we're here."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Three days had passed, and Kumiko was back in the infirmary, doing better, but still weak.  
  
  
  
Jubilee hadn't left her side since she arrived, sitting on the side of the bed.  
  
  
  
She was dressed in a blue and yellow spandex training outfit, which she was given when she joined, as was everyone.  
  
  
  
As she sat reading a book, her friend slept soundly for the first time in almost a week.  
  
  
  
A moment later, the infirmary doors slid open, and Hiromi walked in without a sound.  
  
  
  
"How is she?"  
  
  
  
"Sleeping like a little angel."  
  
  
  
"She will be OK?"  
  
  
  
"Storm says she'll be up and around in a few days."  
  
  
  
Hiromi smiled.  
  
  
  
"That is good to hear."  
  
  
  
Jubilee marked her page, closing the book and placing it in her lap as she stared at Hiromi.  
  
  
  
"Something troubles you, young one?"  
  
  
  
"Yeah..."  
  
  
  
"Tell me."  
  
  
  
Sighing, Jubilee told Hiromi of their former plan to find the guys responsible for Kumiko's parents deaths.  
  
  
  
"I believe I understand, you want to help your friend by taking her burden onto your shoulders."  
  
  
  
"Yeah... I mean she's in no condition to do it for a while, and she's right, if we wait too much longer, we may never find these guys."  
  
  
  
Hiromi sat down in a chair next to the Kumiko's bed.  
  
  
  
"I knew this day would come, but I did not expect it so soon."  
  
  
  
Jubilee's street smarts were rarely wrong, and they suddenly went off.  
  
  
  
"You know, don't you?"  
  
  
  
"Yes."  
  
  
  
"How could you keep it from her for so long?" Jubilee said, trying hard not to yell. "Didn't she have the right to know who killed her parents?"  
  
  
  
"If she'd have told Kumiko back then, you think she'd be alive today?"  
  
Logan's voice said from the far wall, and Jubilee sighed again, knowing he was right.  
  
  
  
"I guess..."  
  
  
  
"I did plan on telling her, but I wanted to wait until she was old enough to deal with the information."  
  
  
  
"...who was old enough?"  
  
  
  
Kumiko stirred, opening her eyes and seeing Hiromi.  
  
  
  
"May I have some time alone with Kumiko?"  
  
  
  
Logan stood up from the windowsill, nodding to Jubilee.  
  
  
  
"Let's split Jubes."  
  
  
  
Jubilee nodded, bending to whisper in Kumiko's ear before she left with Logan.  
  
  
  
Logan looked at her as they stepped outside and the doors closed.  
  
  
  
"What'd you say to her?"  
  
  
  
"I told her... I loved her..."  
  
  
  
A moment later, Kumiko's wail of sadness chilled Jubilee's heart as Logan placed an arm around her shoulder and led her away.  
  
  
  
"Don't worry, she's a tough one, she'll get through this."  
  
  
  
"Maybe..."  
  
  
  
Logan left her alone with her thoughts as they walked, not even pretending to understand what was going through her head.  
  
  
  
Keep a close eye on her Logan.  
  
  
  
What's up Charlie?  
  
  
  
As you always say, 'Just a hunch'.  
  
  
  
"Figures."  
  
  
  
"Logan?" Jubilee looked up at him confused.  
  
  
  
"Just remembered I'm hungry." he said quickly.  
  
  
  
Sighing and drying her moist eyes with a sleeve, Jubilee smiled bravely.  
  
  
  
"Me too."  
  
  
  
They walked to the kitchen, happy to put their thoughts and worries aside, if only for a little while.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Kumiko lay in the infirmary, alone after her latest load of bad news and the following crying fit.  
  
  
  
Hiromi had finally told her who it was who had killed her parents, and now all she needed was a chance to make everything right.  
  
  
  
It's time.  
  
  
  
Getting up carefully, not in any pain, but knowing her side was still tender, she silently drifted to the doors of the infirmary.  
  
  
  
Right on time, just like she had planned. Storm walked in, and before she could search for her, Kumiko quietly dispatched her with a pressure point technique.  
  
  
  
I am truly sorry, but I must finish this. she thought, slipping out the doors and disappearing down the hallway without sound or trace of her presence.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Jubilee munched quietly on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich as Logan watched, sitting back to enjoy a soda. He had already polished off three ham and cheese sandwiches himself.  
  
  
  
"Logan, can I ask you a question?"  
  
  
  
"May as well." he replied "You just did, another won't hurt."  
  
Ignoring his attempt at being annoying, she finished her meal before she spoke again.  
  
  
  
"Why is it people hurt and destroy each other?"  
  
  
  
Shaking his head and pulling out a fresh cigar, he looked deep into her eyes.  
  
  
  
"People have been wonderin' that for centuries darlin', and'll probably go on wonderin' for just as long after we're both dead and buried."  
  
  
  
Jubilee sighed, standing to get a soda from the refrigerator.  
  
  
  
Just then, Storm staggered through the door and fell in a heap next to  
  
Logan, who was out of his chair in an instant.  
  
  
  
"Storm?" Jubilee said, dropping to her knees next to her female teammate.  
  
  
  
"I will... live, child..." she replied, as Jubilee cradled her head on her knees.  
  
  
  
"What happened?" Logan put in quickly, obviously on edge.  
  
  
  
"Kumiko... I think..."  
  
  
  
"Oh god..."  
  
  
  
Jubilee carefully lay Storm's head on the floor and stood, almost trance like.  
  
  
  
"You don't think..."  
  
  
  
"Yeah Wolvy... I do..."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Kumiko dressed quickly, now deep in the surrounding forests of the X-men mansion compound, she hurried, knowing she would be discovered missing soon.  
  
  
  
She now wore a pair of Jubilee's shorts and a black, long sleeve T-shirt, and carried a sword she had borrowed from Logan's room, hoping the note she left would explain things.  
  
  
  
Vaulting over the stone outer wall, she flipped and landed in a crouch, rolling sideways behind cover of trees as she heard a car approaching.  
  
  
  
Watching from behind a clump of bushes, she saw a cab pull to a stop next to the main gate.  
  
  
  
The rear doors opened, Jean getting out of the near side and Scott on the opposite side.  
  
  
  
Jean paid the driver as Scott grabbed some bags from the trunk.  
  
  
  
"Thanks ma'am." the cabbie said, smiling at the five dollar tip. "You have a nice day."  
  
  
  
"You too." Scott said, handing Jean a small bag and picking up the other three heavier bags.  
  
  
  
The cab drove away, and Scott walked to open the gate.  
  
  
  
Jean suddenly looked toward the house, the color draining from her face as she sensed something.  
  
  
  
"Jean?"  
  
  
  
"Storm's hurt... and something's wrong."  
  
  
  
Scott jammed the buttons, and the gate opened on it's metallic rollers, the couple dashing toward the house.  
  
  
  
Kumiko blinked once, and sprinted up the road, putting as much distance as she could between herself and the house before they realized what she had done.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Logan stood outside the infirmary, smoking a cigar and leaning against the wall while he read aloud the note Kumiko had left on his sword rack in his room.  
  
  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------  
  
Logan-sama,  
  
  
  
I apologize for the way I have disgraced your blade by my theft, but I fear it was unavoidable. I must finish my mission and avenge my family, or I may never get another chance to do so.  
  
  
  
Please express my apologies to everyone, for I fear I may not return. You have all treated me like I was truly a part of your family, and for this, I am most happy, though I fear my actions have disgraced your trust in me, and I can only offer my apologies.  
  
  
  
To Storm especially, I humbly ask forgiveness for my actions, and I pray she will not suffer any ill effects of my shameless actions.  
  
  
  
Jubilee, my dear friend... If anyone understands what I am doing, I pray it is you. My life has not been full of the love you have shown me, and I can only hope we meet again in the afterlife to once again share that bond.  
  
  
  
Rogue, if I offended you in any way before, I ask your forgiveness. I still have much to learn of the ways of respect, and I can only hope I will live long enough to learn that lesson. Always remember, when you are down, looking up provides the best view.  
  
  
  
To all, my undying friendship, and most humble apologies.  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------  
  
  
  
"What's she gone and done now?" Rogue said, shaking her head in disbelief.  
  
  
  
Jubilee smiled, tears in her eyes as she stared off into space.  
  
  
  
"She's fulfilling her destiny... and when she's done, she'll be at peace..."  
  
  
  
Logan stood up, folding the note and handing it to Xavier, who sat a few feet away.  
  
  
  
"I'm going to help her... who's with me?"  
  
  
  
Everyone raised their hand, and as one, they all looked at Hiromi as she stood, quietly contemplating.  
  
  
  
"Follow me."  
  
  
  
After they took off down the hallway, Xavier floated silently into where Storm lay quietly in bed.  
  
  
  
"You have raised them well Charles." she said, as if reading his troubled mind. "No one could ask for better."  
  
  
  
"Perhaps." he replied "and perhaps not..."  
  
  
  
Storm took his hand in her own, squeezing it firmly.  
  
  
  
"She will survive, and she will return, you must believe that."  
  
  
  
His sigh was shaky, but he smiled.  
  
  
  
"I can only hope you are right."  
  
  
  
And so they waited...  
  
* * * * *  
  
A strange sound below her tree perch instantly awoke Kumiko.  
  
  
  
Nearly two weeks had passed since she had disappeared from Xavier's mansion, leaving her new friends to finish her quest to avenge the deaths of her parents.  
  
  
  
The voices grew louder, and she watched, unmoving.  
  
  
  
"How much further?" a female voice asked, stumbling and crashing through the underbrush, sounding very tired.  
  
  
  
"Just over there, by those two huge trees." a male voice replied.  
  
  
  
As Kumiko watched from the cover of the trees, she saw the young girl stumble and fall, rolling over, sitting up and leaning back against a nearby tree.  
  
  
  
She was perhaps sixteen. Her beautiful blonde hair was cut shoulder length, which framed her sparkling blue eyes perfectly. Though her face was slightly pale, she seemed in good health, just unusually tired form what seemed a long walk into the woods.  
  
  
  
The young man however, seemed in great shape, his skin darker and his brown hair slightly curly. His eyes, unlike hers, were brown, but they seemed quite evil to Kumiko, and she watched the couple closely.  
  
  
  
"Come on Julie." he said, suddenly impatient. "We're almost there!"  
  
  
  
Julie rolled her eyes and leaned her head back against the tree.  
  
  
  
"Can't I rest for a little bit first? I'm not used to all this hiking like you are."  
  
  
  
He slowly grew upset, and wanted to leave quickly.  
  
  
  
"Just for a second..."  
  
  
  
"I'm sorry Mike." she replied. "But I DID just get out of the hospital a week  
  
ago..."  
  
  
  
"Yeah... sorry... I just spent so long waiting to have you see this, I'm not thinking."  
  
  
  
"It's OK..."  
  
  
  
Kumiko slowly rose, ignoring her second sense and quietly slipping away, continuing her journey without another thought.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Over here Scott."  
  
  
  
Cyclops carefully made his way to where his wife knelt, holding a piece of cloth in her fingers.  
  
  
  
"I'm pretty sure it's hers." Jean said, smiling "and I can faintly sense her. I can't say where she is exactly, but she's definitely close by."  
  
  
  
"Wolverine, got anything?" Cyclops turned, watching as Wolverine crouched, sniffing the surrounding air.  
  
  
  
"I smell her, but it's faint."  
  
  
  
Jubilee meanwhile stared at what looked like to be small rock, wondering what a small stone was doing this far into the forest  
  
  
  
"Hey Wolvy... I think you should see this."  
  
  
  
Wolverine stood and turned around, walking over to where Jubilee knelt beside a group of trees, staring at the small stone.  
  
  
  
By the time he realized what it was, it was too late.  
  
  
  
The smoke bomb exploded with massive force, knocking Wolverine down and sending Jubilee backwards into a tree and the darkness of unconsciousness.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Jubilee painfully awoke, tied to a small bed in a tiny room.  
  
  
  
"Did anyone get the number of that truck?" she said, amazed by the dryness in her throat.  
  
  
  
A moment later, a familiar voice spoke from an open doorway to another room.  
  
  
  
"Are you awake?"  
  
  
  
"Kumiko?"  
  
  
  
She walked in, sitting on the bed and smiling at her friend.  
  
  
  
"Quick, you gotta untie me before whoever did this comes back."  
  
  
  
"I released the smoke bomb, Jubilee... though I did not expect it to be so powerful...I will be more careful next time."  
  
  
  
Stunned, Jubilee could only watch as her friend loosened the bonds on her arms so she could at least move around a little, but not escape.  
  
  
  
"I need you to promise me something..."  
  
  
  
Jubilee closed her eyes from the raging pain in her head.  
  
  
  
"You're afraid I'll escape and tell everyone where you are."  
  
  
  
"Promise me you will not."  
  
  
  
"Kumiko, I told you, whatever you need, I'll be there for you... if you don't want me to leave, I'll stay here forever."  
  
  
  
"I can not ask you to help me, only that you will promise not to stop me."  
  
  
  
Jubilee shook her head.  
  
  
  
"That's the reason we came to find you, we wanna help you."  
  
  
  
"No!"  
  
  
  
Watching her friend pace the small room like a caged animal, Jubilee could only try to use words to comfort her confused friend.  
  
  
  
"Kumiko, come here and talk to me, please?"  
  
  
  
"I am sorry Jubilee." Kumiko replied finally, staring at the floor "I left a trail so you will be found soon, but I fear I can not let you help me."  
  
  
  
"I understand... but at LEAST untie me and blindfold me or something..."  
  
  
  
Kumiko smiled, and untied Jubilee.  
  
  
  
Rubbing the feeling back into her arms, she smiled.  
  
  
  
"Thanks."  
  
  
  
Kumiko turned around, grabbing the sword she had taken from Logan's room.  
  
  
  
Jubilee sprung, tackling Kumiko while her back was turned, the impact of her leap knocking the sword out of her hands and sending them both sliding across the floor.  
  
  
  
"What are you doing?" Kumiko said as she tried to break free.  
  
  
  
"Making you see reason" Jubilee replied, hoping she could hold on long  
  
enough for someone to find her.  
  
  
  
"Let GO!"  
  
  
  
Screaming and breaking the hold, Kumiko turned, grabbing Jubilee's throat and pulling back her right arm to deliver a fatal blow.  
  
  
  
"Go ahead." Jubilee said, out of breath "Do it... kill me..."  
  
  
  
Kumiko blinked, realizing what she was doing and quickly let go of Jubilee, running and grabbing the sword and leaping out a window in the other room just before Logan kicked in the front door.  
  
  
  
"Jubilee!"  
  
  
  
"I'm fine Wolvy..." she replied, still catching her breath as she stared out the shattered window her friend had leapt through. "Just a bit shook up."  
  
  
  
"Kumiko?"  
  
  
  
"Gone."  
  
  
  
Wolverine sniffed once and slowly looked over the room.  
  
  
  
"She take the sword?"  
  
  
  
Jubilee stood now, walking toward a small bag Kumiko had left at the foot of the bed.  
  
  
  
"Yeah, she has it." she replied quietly as she found Kumiko's locket in the bag.  
  
  
  
"Good."  
  
  
  
"Good?" Jubilee turned, about to give Logan a piece of her mind when she saw the evil smile on his face and closed her mouth.  
  
  
  
He nodded, and walked toward the door, tapping his costume's belt buckle twice.  
  
  
  
"Wolverine, what's up?" Cyclops' voice said from the two way communicator.  
  
  
  
"She's still got the sword, track her, she's headed north."  
  
  
  
"Copy, we'll meet you..."  
  
  
  
"No."  
  
  
  
Static hissed momentarily as Jubilee's tears rolled down her newly smiling face as she understood for the first time how Logan's mind worked.  
  
  
  
"Repeat that Wolverine?"  
  
  
  
"I said we don' need a pickup Cyke..." his smile was genuine as Jubilee hugged him. "Me and Jubilee are goin' huntin'."  
  
* * * * *  
  
In a small room, a young guard watched seven small black and white monitors.  
  
  
  
As he scanned them one by one, he noticed a young girl, dash from a stand of trees into a small opening between two buildings.  
  
  
  
He grinned, knowing this would mean a promotion.  
  
  
  
Picking up the phone beside him to report in, he never saw the sword hilt strike him in the side in the head that sent him into blackness.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Kumiko crouched behind a dumpster, catching her breath from the running she had just done.  
  
  
  
Nagging feelings of doubt lingered thought her head, but she mentally shrugged them aside, keeping her mind sharp and focused on the task at hand.  
  
  
  
"Hey Jones!" a lanky young guard said, strolling over to a second guard as he sat on a jeep nearby.  
  
  
  
"What's up?" the second man said, this one in pretty good shape.  
  
  
  
"You hear about the boss?"  
  
  
  
"No man, what's the deal?" the second man said, hopping off the jeep and  
  
stretching in the heat.  
  
  
  
"People are saying he used to be some kind of tough guy or some kinda mess  
  
like that."  
  
  
  
"No bull?"  
  
  
  
The first man shrugged.  
  
  
  
"That's what they say anyway, and I've seen him man, he's a big dude..."  
  
  
  
"Is he the one that came over from the 'house?"  
  
  
  
Kumiko's mind filled of memories of Monica's body and the man that had lied to her...  
  
  
  
"Yeah man, he's the only one that got outta there."  
  
  
  
He will pay for the suffering he has caused me.  
  
  
  
She rose quietly, rolling across the opening between buildings and climbing a wall to reach the roof.  
  
  
  
Monica, my sister... I will avenge you...  
  
  
  
As she reached the top of the wall, she dove under a massive cooling unit to rest until nightfall, her mind filling with the events that had brought her here.  
  
  
  
She lay in bed, Jubilee and Logan had just left and Hiromi sat down on her bed, her master brushing hair from her eyes.  
  
  
  
"I did some research when I arrived in this country."  
  
  
  
"Did you find the people that killed my family?"  
  
  
  
"Yes... but..."  
  
  
  
"Tell me."  
  
  
  
Hiromi sighed then, staring at the floor.  
  
  
  
I found your sister..."  
  
  
  
Kumiko had almost leapt out of the bed in excitement, her sister... the only trace of a true family she had.  
  
  
  
"She's dead."  
  
  
  
"Dead?" Kumiko had asked, confused.  
  
  
  
"Yes, she is dead."  
  
  
  
"Well, accidents do happen in the big city I guess..."  
  
  
  
"No Kumiko."  
  
  
  
Hiromi held Kumiko's hands and turned to face her.  
  
  
  
"Monica was your sister."  
  
  
  
"Impossible, Monica was..."  
  
  
  
"American?" yes... surgery changed her looks and she used a different name..."  
  
  
  
"No..."  
  
  
  
"She had told you the truth, she did come to a family, but she was kidnapped, and somehow tricked into believing she killed her parents... which is why the men were sent to your house..."  
  
  
  
Kumiko couldn't find words as the pieces starting falling into place.  
  
  
  
"You see, they needed her to get to you, but since they could not find  
  
you..."  
  
  
  
"No... they... it is not possible..."  
  
  
  
Hiromi hugged her student as Kumiko began to cry.  
  
  
  
"Once they had you, they no longer needed Monica, and that is why they sent her to kill you. They decided if you killed your own sister, they could use you the same way they used her, through your guilt.  
  
  
  
That was when Kumiko snapped, screaming. Her rage and pain had soon fallen into sobbing and finally sleep.  
  
  
  
When she awoke, she was a new person.  
  
  
  
Having nothing left to lose, she had decided to destroy the man responsible for all the hardship she had experienced, even if she died destroying him.  
  
  
  
And so, stealing the sword from Logan's room she had made her way here over the course of two agonizing weeks of travel.  
  
  
  
The smoke bomb earlier was only meant to be a distraction to get Jubilee alone to try to explain how she felt, but when Jubilee had tried to stop her, Kumiko had almost killed her best friend, and decided she would bet better off alone.  
  
  
  
Trying to shake off the thought of Jubilee's beautiful face, looking scared and helpless, Kumiko took one final look around. After a few minutes, she finally curled into a deep sleep to save her strength.  
  
  
  
She was Ninja, and the night was her greatest weapon.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Jubes, look at this."  
  
  
  
Jubilee carefully crawled over to where Wolverine crouched in a ditch, a few hundred feet from a heavily armed complex... or was it?  
  
  
  
Grabbing the offered binoculars, she squinted through them, looking for the guards that were expected as the sun set on the complex.  
  
  
  
"No guards?"  
  
  
  
"Right."  
  
  
  
Thinking for a moment, Jubilee frowned, brushing the bangs from her eyes.  
  
  
  
"Which means either it's a trap... or someone else took 'em out."  
  
  
  
Wolverine nodded, ruffling her hair before he stalked toward the front gate.  
  
  
  
"That's usin' your head, darlin'."  
  
  
  
"I hate it when you do that." she said, following and trying to brush her hair back with her fingers.  
  
  
  
They quickly made it to the front gate, which was still locked, and confirmed both their suspicions.  
  
  
  
"Hey Wolvy, here's one of the guards."  
  
  
  
Jubilee pointed and walked over to see if he was OK, and gasped as she knelt next to him, reeling backwards and falling on her rear, sliding a few feet away in shock.  
  
  
  
Wolverine raised an eyebrow at her actions and walked over to investigate.  
  
  
  
Rolling the man over carefully with his foot, he saw the reason for her horror, and shook his head.  
  
  
  
The guard was dead, a single shuriken was still buried in his forehead.  
  
  
  
"Ninja?" Jubilee asked quietly, trying to keep her breakfast down.  
  
  
  
"Yup." he spit behind him in disgust, turning and walking toward the main complex.  
  
  
  
"Come on Jubilee, he's gone, let's see if we can find someone we can help."  
  
  
  
She stood up, nodding and jogged to catch up with him, determined not to let this get to her, after all, she WAS an X-men team member now.  
  
  
  
They walked in silence for a while, finding dead guards here and there, as if wiped out without ever knowing they were under attack.  
  
  
  
In one small building, they found two more guards, sitting in chairs, a hand of cards on the table between them. Apparently they had been gassed, when Wolverine had opened the door, he had coughed for a few minutes before letting Jubilee near the place.  
  
  
  
"Damn, nasty stuff." he muttered, sitting on a nearby jeep as Jubilee sat next to him.  
  
  
  
"What was it?"  
  
  
  
"Smelled like Nerve Gas... but I think it was probably some new poison... silent and deadly.  
  
  
  
Jubilee frowned again, wondering if Kumiko had done this.  
  
  
  
Just then, and door opened and a man stumbled out, a knife in his shoulder, a tall female Ninja stalking behind him as he staggered away to try save himself.  
  
  
  
Wolverine leapt, his kick connecting with the woman's side, and the two rolled around a corner.  
  
  
  
As sounds of fighting ensued, Jubilee knelt next to the injured man, ripping off his sleeve and using it to bind the wound as best she could.  
  
  
  
"There's three of them..." he said dryly.  
  
  
  
"Three of who?"  
  
  
  
Swallowing dryly, he pointed with his good arm towards where Wolverine and the Ninja had disappeared.  
  
  
  
"Three Ninja?" Jubilee asked.  
  
  
  
The man, who's name tag on his uniform said 'McConnell', nodded his head and passed out.  
  
  
  
"Wolvy?"  
  
  
  
She stood, starting to walk toward where Wolverine had disappeared from, when he rolled out from there, four shuriken landing scant inches behind him as he dove aside.  
  
  
  
Standing, he popped his claws, and snarled.  
  
  
  
"Alright lady, you wanna play dirty? I can play dirty too."  
  
  
  
He dove back into the alleyway, and out of Jubilee's view.  
  
  
  
Sounds of chaos filled the quiet air. Metal on metal, cloth ripping, other blunt sounds and finally a loud cracking sound then, silence ruled once more.  
  
  
  
"Wolvy?" Jubilee ran into the alley.  
  
  
  
"I'm here." his scratchy voice said sourly.  
  
  
  
He slumped against a wall, the female Ninja slumped over him, breathing, but seriously hurt.  
  
  
  
"She's a fighter, she almost had me... but then it was like the lights went out, and she collapsed."  
  
  
  
Jubilee rolled her over and her eyes grew wide as she saw an older Kumiko only with different color hair.  
  
  
  
"How..."  
  
  
  
"Probably a clone... she fought like Kumiko, but she missed... so I knew it wasn't her."  
  
  
  
"They wanted to clone Kumiko?"  
  
  
  
Wolverine shrugged, waiting for his body to heal.  
  
  
  
"My guess is they lost the original, so they tried the clones." Wolverine smirked "I guess they didn't work the bugs out.  
  
  
  
Jubilee frowned again, seeing the blood on Wolverine's costume.  
  
  
  
"The guard over there said he saw three of them."  
  
  
  
Wolverine tried to rise, but slumped down once more.  
  
  
  
"I'm no good to you right now, so you're gonna have to go in there and find Kumiko yourself."  
  
  
  
"I can't leave you here." Jubilee protested "What if another one comes along?"  
  
  
  
"She'll never find me, now turn your communicator on and go darlin'."  
  
  
  
"But..."  
  
  
  
"I know, X-men don't cut and run." he smiled "I'll be good as new in a bit, but Kumiko might not have that long."  
  
  
  
Standing, Jubilee nodded. She was scared, but she bravely grabbed the fallen Ninja's sword and smiled.  
  
  
  
"May be useful."  
  
  
  
Wolverine chuckled, bringing himself into a coughing fit.  
  
  
  
Jubilee reached for him for a moment, then shook her head, turning and running toward the door the guard had come out of.  
  
  
  
Kumiko she thought as she ran Please be alive...  
  
* * * * *  
  
Kumiko awoke, staring at the setting sun and rolling out from under the cooler into the point of a sword.  
  
  
  
"Move and die child."  
  
  
  
Standing up slowly, Kumiko looked down the blade of the Katana at a female Ninja.  
  
  
  
"You would attack me while I unarmed?"  
  
  
  
"A Ninja is never unarmed." the cold voice replied.  
  
  
  
"Indeed, but a true Ninja would not need a sword to kill a small girl." Kumiko said "I think you are scared of me."  
  
  
  
"Not scared." the woman replied "I simply do not wish to kill my Mother."  
  
  
  
Kumiko blinked in surprise as the woman, easily four or five years older then she was, pulled down her mask to reveal her own face, framed with red hair.  
  
  
  
"How..."  
  
  
  
"She's a clone."  
  
  
  
The deep voice flushed any trace of surprise from Kumiko's mind, and she turned to see the man who she was searching for, now wearing a uniform of command as he pointed a handgun at Kumiko.  
  
  
  
"You..."  
  
  
  
He laughed, and the woman grabbed Kumiko in a hold, placing the sword to her throat as he walked forward to look at his prize.  
  
  
  
"It's sad." he said, looking Kumiko over like a butcher would a huge side of beef. "You've wanted me dead for years and you don't even know my name."  
  
  
  
"I do not care about your name." Kumiko replied icily, but not struggling against the firm grip the Ninja held her in. "I only want you to suffer like I have."  
  
  
  
"You'll care soon enough." he said, suddenly angry.  
  
  
  
"I will not rest until you are dead by my hand."  
  
  
  
"Shutup you..."  
  
  
  
Kumiko lost the rest as the man backhanded her so hard her ears rang and her vision blurred. The recoil of the blow made the sword nick her throat, and she dared not move.  
  
  
  
"If there is one thing I can't stand, it's little bratty..." the man continued to pummel her as he uttered more indecent language, finally he punched her in the stomach, and she held onto the woman's arms so as not to fall onto the sword blade after her knees gave out.  
  
  
  
"Hey, Ugly!"  
  
  
  
Kumiko shook her head to clear it, smiling when she saw her.  
  
  
  
"Jubilee..."  
  
  
  
"Another playtoy!" the man laughed. "Good, they're always worth more for the set."  
  
  
  
"Shutup and let her go, or I'll..." She brandished the sword menacingly.  
  
  
  
"You'll what?" the man said, aiming his gun at Jubilee. "Cut me up? Dodge a bullet? Dissappear?"  
  
  
  
Kumiko suddenly got an idea, coughing and kicking a smoke bomb from the secret compartment in her shoe toward Jubilee.  
  
  
  
The smoke bomb hit an instant before the man fired, and Kumiko used to oppertunity to swing her feet over her head and latch onto the woman's head and pull, hard with her legs.  
  
  
  
Stumbling forward, Kumiko turned the Ninja's motion into a forward roll, her neck getting gashed for her effort, but at least she was free.  
  
  
  
The man turned, seeing the female ninja roll herself and stumble into him. He fired a second time, grazing Kumiko's temple as she rolled for her own sword.  
  
  
  
"DIE little girl!" he yelled, firing blind as Kumiko scrambled into the smoke cloud to check on Jubilee.  
  
  
  
Finding her, she drug her around a corner and leaned her against the wall, checking her injuries.  
  
  
  
The bullet had passed through Jubilee's right shoulder, but she would live.  
  
  
  
"Ow..." Jubilee said quietly, starting to wake up as the madman continued to fire into the now empty smoke cloud.  
  
  
  
"Shhh." Kumiko said, hugging her friend "Stay here, I have to finish this..."  
  
  
  
"Promise me..."  
  
  
  
Kumiko turned, looking at Jubilee.  
  
  
  
"Don't... don't kill him..."  
  
  
  
"But he killed my family."  
  
  
  
"My pocket..."  
  
  
  
Kumiko reached into Jubilee's trenchcoat pocket, pulling the locket out and clutching it to her heart before she put it around her neck once more.  
  
  
  
"The X-men don't kill... and they don't leave their own..." Jubilee coughed,  
  
unable to finish.  
  
  
  
Kumiko stood, saying nothing as she dashed back out into the battle.  
  
  
  
"Where are you..."  
  
  
  
"I am here." Kumiko interrupted, not wanting to hear any more of the man's foul mouth.  
  
  
  
He turned, pointing the gun at her, laughing as she stood defiant on the very cooler she had slept under.  
  
  
  
"You really are a stupid little girl, you know that?"  
  
  
  
"Perhaps." she replied, leaping lightly off the metallic box and landing in front of the man she despised so much.  
  
  
  
"But I would rather be stupid than an ugly, fat moron like you." She replied, smiling as she quoted a movie she had seen a month before.  
  
  
  
The gun clicked as the man fired.  
  
  
  
"It seems you are out of bullets, and out of luck." She said, drawing the sword and placing it to his throat as he tried to reload.  
  
  
  
The man dropped to his knees, begging for his life.  
  
  
  
"You killed my family, and you destroyed my life, for that, I hope you go straight to hell!"  
  
  
  
Kumiko raised the sword over her head to deliver the final deathblow.  
  
  
  
"Kumiko..." Jubilee's vioce said from her right side. "Don't... don't do it..."  
  
  
  
"She's right." Wolverine's voice said from her left. "This scumbag ain't worth the trouble, and his blood would dishonor the blade."  
  
  
  
The sword quivered with Kumiko's indecision, and she screamed, the sword coming down with stunning speed. Jubilee turned her head so as not to see the bloodbath.  
  
  
  
A moment later, Wolverine's laughter made Jubilee open her eyes, and she looked on to see the man, on his knees, his shirt neatly cut down the buttonholes.  
  
  
  
"For my honor, I shall not kill you, Gaijin." she said to him in bitterly, handing the sword to Logan before she changed her mind.  
  
  
  
He took it, and bowed.  
  
  
  
"I will however give you a gift."  
  
  
  
The man, knowing he was defeated, rose at Kumiko picked him up by the ruins of his shirt collar.  
  
  
  
"For your crimes, I will leave you the way you left me... without a family."  
  
  
  
Before anyone could stop her, she kicked the man square between the legs so hard he coughed up blood as he fell to his knees once more.  
  
  
  
Wolverine grimaced, grabbing her by the shoulders gently so as not to startle her from her rage.  
  
  
  
"Come on, let's go home." he said as the Blackbird landed on the ground below.  
  
  
  
Jubilee then decided it was a good time to faint.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Three days later, Kumiko and Jubilee sat in their shared room, Kumiko's bandaged head matching Jubilee's shoulder that was bandaged and in a sling.  
  
  
  
They watched an action movie Wolverine had rented that day for them, the one Kumiko had seen before.  
  
  
  
In the movie, the hero, a Japanese man, held a sword to a man's throat as he held a gun to his chest.  
  
  
  
In Japanese the men conversed, and Jubilee read the subtitles.  
  
  
  
The Hero, named Izuki grinned as the villian, Makai fired his weapon.  
  
  
  
It was of course empty, and Izuki smiled.  
  
  
  
"You should learn to count." he said.  
  
  
  
"Ha!" Makai said, laughing now behind his black eyepatch as two Ninja snuck up on the Hero. "You were foolish for coming here Izuki!"  
  
  
  
"Perhaps." he replied, shrugging his shoulders "But I would rather be stupid  
  
than an ugly, obese one-eyed loser like you."  
  
  
  
"One eyed loser?" Jubilee said as the Hero turned, sliced one Ninja across the belly, the second up the back and stabbing Makai through the heart in  
  
one swift motion.  
  
  
  
Kumiko giggled.  
  
  
  
"It loses something in the translation I guess."  
  
  
  
Jubilee laughed herself now, and they soon found themselves talking about more important matters, which character in the movie was the cutest hunk.  
  
  
  
Down the hall, Logan sat on the main staircase, wearing bluejeans, a sleeveless T-shirt and a pair of old tennis shoes, polishing the sword Kumiko had returned to him.  
  
  
  
So Logan, what do you think?" Jean said, sitting next to him in a beautiful silk nightgown.  
  
  
  
"Well, for starters, I think you smell good." he replied, smirking as she playfully slapped him, both knowing Scott watched from above,  
  
  
  
"Seriously Logan, what do you think of Kumiko?"  
  
  
  
He sighed, standing and carefully returning the sword to it's sheath in the traditional way.  
  
  
  
"I think her nightmare ain't over yet."  
  
  
  
"What's that mean?" Scott said from the balcony.  
  
  
  
Logan looked up at him.  
  
  
  
"It means she's got a lot of growing up to do yet, and not enough time to do it."  
  
  
  
Scott nodded his head, turning and walking toward the room he shaed with his Jean.  
  
  
  
Jean stood now too, smoothing her nightgown and walking up the stairs, leaving Logan with his thoughts.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Jubilee and Kumiko had long since fallen into a peaceful slumber when the woman apeared in the darkness to look over them for a moment..  
  
  
  
Hiromi smiled, kissing Kumiko on her cheek as she slept.  
  
  
  
"Take care young one... may your life be full of peace."  
  
  
  
As she dissappeared out the door without a sound, Jubilee smiled and shed a tear.  
  
  
  
I'll make sure it is as peaceful as it can be Hiromi, I promise.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Xavier smiled in his study as he worked another late night.  
  
  
  
"I know you will Jubilee... I know you will do just that." 


End file.
